What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day
by Pilar
Summary: After a break up w/ Andie Pacey discovers Abby's fun to hang out with.
1. What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day

_Disclaimer:_ Still stands, as on every other page... don't own characters, etc... The title comes from a great book by Pearl Cleage (Thanks Kilby!), don't own it either! Please don't sue me....

_Rating:_ So far, PG-13... a couple of bad words thrown in, you know what a potty-mouth I have!

_Feedback:_ I need it to live, without it I am nothing and you wouldn't want that, would you... Please let me know what you think at [pilar@chickmail.com][1]. Thanks for even getting this far...

* * *

* * *

Part One  
  


* * *

"Jealous?" came a voice from behind Abby Morgan. She hadn't realized that she'd been staring down the hallway with disdain, watching her "favorite" couples float around each other. It wasn't that any of them were especially happy, but Abby was annoyed that any of them were even together at all, while she was alone. Her face twisted into a vicious scowl as she turned to meet her challenger.

"Are you kidding me? Why would I envy the Capeside Geek Society? I just so happen to be observing them as part of a sociological study on the mating rituals of the pathetic and useless," she snapped back.

"You know... I could show you some mating rituals--if you're looking for a control group reference." He raised his eyebrows seductively at her and she rolled her eyes in return. _In your dreams..._

"Chris--when I'm looking for Jen Lindley's sloppy seconds, I'll let you know. Until then, why don't you slink back under the bleachers and and get abck to looking under the pep squad's skirts."

"I'll be waiting for you, baby, whenever you're ready for a real man." He wandered past her and into a classroom, as the final bell rang.

The halls emptied as Abby stood transfixed, watching the couples separate. "Andie McPhee walked toward her class, pretending to enter, all the while keeping her eyes on her boyfriend as he sauntered away and turned the corner. Paranoid, she looked around her as he disappeared. She exited the class, breaking into a run towards the doors leading to the outside. They made a loud bang as she hit them and tore to her car, screeching from the school parking lot.

Abby midlessly wandered inthe direction that Pacey Witter had gone. She could miss another English class, it wasn't as if she could get lower than the F she had already earned for herself. Pushing open a set of double doors, she entered the darkened auditorium and walked towards the stage. She always came here when she wanted to be alone. This time, somebody else had beaten her, invading her space of solace. She took a seat behind him, fighting off the urge to brush her fingers across the soft down of hair on the nape of his neck.

"I just saw your psycho girlfriend take off from the parking lot. Quick run to the loony bin, I suppose?"

"Fuck off, Abby." She froze for a moment. Abby never really meant to say the things that came out of her mouth; the words just flew from between her lips. Often, she regretted them immediately. She stood and walked to the row of seats ahead of him, turning backwards in her chair, she could see him fighting back tears as he looked away from her.

"I'm sorry, Pacey--I didn't honestly mean that--really..."

"Get out of here. Go spread your special brand of cheer elsewhere. Please."

She knew that she deserved his acidic tone and looked towards her feet, biting her lips and trying to think of something to say to redeem herself. Nothing came. Apologizing again, she rose and began to exit the auditorium, her platform heels making hollow clicks on the tiled floor. Nearing the door, she turned back to him, still sitting motionless and staring at the stage. She took a deep breath.

"Um... I know that you hate my guts and all, and I know you'd never want to talk to **me**, but if you need someone to... well... uh... I know you've got enough friends, but if you want to talk, I'm around. Sorry..."

He turned to look at her, silhouetted against the light from the open door, and furrowed his brows in disbelief.

"Uh... thanks, Abby", it sounded more like a question than anything else. She pushed through the doors and walked out, of the auditorium and then the school.

* * *

Abby roamed Capeside with no destination in mind, her heart hurt and she was tiring of being the bitch that everyone hated. She didn't understand herself, when had she become so insufferable? After a time, she found herself at the docks.

Sitting and staring out towards the water, she thought about her increasing attitude problem, getting out of Capeside, making an entirely new life for herself. One where no one had cultivated such negative opinions of her.

Everyone, by now, had come to expect her to be nasty, she really had never not been. Ever since Junior High, in another small town, she had realized that her life was too boring and mundane and that she had a special talent for creating drama and havoc. It gave her a certain amount of pleasure watching other people suffer. But on the other hand, she was miserable, and at this rate, she would remain the virgin no one thought she was, until she died.

The sound of footsteps startled her out of her thoughts. It was getting darker and she realized that she should probably start towards home, but she sat still, not wanting to deal with her mother, and already hours later than she was expected. She would make up another story about hanging out with some non-existant friends at their house. She would believe her, she always did.

The footsteps stopped coming closer and she turned her head slowly to see their owner. Pacey Witter stood feet behind her, stopped in his tracks. He looked as if he wasn't sure what to do with himself, as though he'd been looking for the same silence she had found on the docks. She turned her head back around slowly and listened as his footsteps moved away from her, to another bench, the wood creaking beneath his weight as he sat.

If he wanted to talk to her, he would. She thought that maybe, if she kept her acerbic mouth shut for once in her life, he would interpret it as her attempt to be nice, to respect his feelings and leave him alone.

Pacey's eyes met the water and he gazed out; past the lights of the boats moored near the docks, past the horizon line, wondering what the hell he was doing there. His day was ending as horridly as it had began. The argument with Andie, her declining mental state, what she wanted him to be... he couldn't be manipulated and he told her so. He didn't want it to be like that between them, he wanted her to accept him for who he was. _Is that so much to ask?_ He shouldn't have to change into some other person for anyone to love him. His father, Doug, Andie--all the same, they thought he wasn't good enough, he was supposed to change for them. _Fuck 'em all_ he thought to himself wearily. He didn't want to be anyone's golden boy, not if it meant betraying himself. _To thine own self be true_, he let out a small laugh, surprised that he heard Abby do the same.

They looked towards each other, a few benches separating them, and began to laugh uncontrollably. Nervousness? Possibly, an odd moment, certainly. For the time being, they shared the parallel expression. Finally, out of breath, she spoke to him.

"What?"

"You first."

"I was trying to come up with another lie to tell my mother about why I'm not home yet, make up something about having friends to hang out with. Funny, huh? And you?"

"I broke up with Andie this morning, she thought that she could mold me into some straight-A student, perfect boyfriend--hilarious."

"We're just pathetic today, aren't we? In the prime of our lives, depressed and screwed up. Excellent."

"Yup. Fantastic."

"I'm sorry about Andie, you guys looked like you were real happy together."

"I could have really fallen in love with her, if she'd just let me be myself. What is it with you people, women, why does it always have to be your way?"

"I think you're fine the way you are, Pacey."

"Whatever... I mean, uh, thanks."

"Well, I should go face the music at home..."

"I'll walk with you, you _are_ going my way."

She smiled at him then. Abby had harbored a small crush on Pacey since she'd seen him in one of her first classes in Capeside, when she'd moved into town. As always, she had made a horrible first impression and it had gone on like that ever since. Maybe now, they could go get beyond that and move on.

"Gee... what are your friends going to think if they see you walking the streets with Capeside's Lady Lucifer?", she winked at him, smiling.

"Like I've ever gave a shit what anybody thinks of me..."

"That's exactly what I like about you, Pacey."

"**You** like something about **me**. I was under the impression that you hated everything and everybody in Capeside."

"Shows how little you know".

"I guess so..."

He walked her to her house, standing at the curb as the porch lights came on and she walked to the front door, turning and waving back to him. She mouthed the words "_Thank you_", and he nodded. "_Same here_, coming from his lips. She watched from the entry as he made his way up her street towards home.

* * *

To Be Continued....

   [1]: mailto:pilar@chickmail.com



	2. What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day

_Disclaimer:_ Don't own jack, not a character, location, none of it... The title comes from a great book by Pearl Cleage (Thanks Kilby!), don't own it either! Please don't sue me....

_Rating:_ So far, PG-13... a couple of bad words thrown in, you know what a potty-mouth I have!

_Feedback:_ Please, please, please write me... I hate to beg, but this is what it's come down to. I want your feedback and I want it now! Please drop me a line at [pilar@chickmail.com][1]. Thanks!

* * *

* * *

Part Two  
  


* * *

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Be--

Pacey reached his arm out from beneath his comforter and slapped his alarm clock, maybe he could get back into his dream in the nine minutes of snooze time he could afford. He felt himself drift off...

_They were entangled in each other's arms, the tall grass tickling his bare back. He twisted his fingers through her hair, running his tongue along her lithe neck. "Abby...," he whispered in her ear._

_Abby?_ His eyes opened with a start. He kicked the blanket off of his sweat-drenched body and ran a hand up his chest to his throat. Not needing the final four minutes of sleep, he turned off the alarm clock and sat up in bed. He was definitely awake now.

"Abby?" he need to hear himself say her name, hardly believing that he had just seen those images in his unconscious mind, hardly believing that he could dream of them together. He shook the thought from his head.

* * *

"Abby? Abigail! You're going to be late for school if you don't come down now!"

"I'm coming mother!" She rolled her eyes at her reflection.

Putting the finishing touches on her complicated hairstyle, she smiled wryly at herself and picked up her schoolbag. She walked from her room, down the stairs and to her waiting mother in the kitchen.

"Abby, you look very pretty today."

"Thanks, Mom," she replied dryly.

"Did you have a nice time with your friend last night? I saw you come in, what is the young man's name?"

Abby looked at her mother, her mouth hanging open. Should she lie? She was so used to lying about who she was with, if it was difficult not to. Except this time, there was no reason for her not to tell the truth. She'd returned home with Pacey.

"Pacey Witter," she whispered, "he's just a friend, Mom." She looked sheepishly at the coffee cup sitting in front of her, almost embarrassed.

"Oh... he must be one of Sheriff Witter's sons, that's nice... what an attractive boy he is, Abby. Nothing romantic in the future?"

"Mom!"

"Oh honey, there's nothing to be ashamed about if you like this boy." Ms. Morgan smiled soothingly at her daughter, putting her hand under Abby's chin. "Do you want me to drive me to school this morning?"

Abby's cheeks burned at her mother's suggestion that she had something for Pacey, and the unlikely idea that they could ever get together. "No thanks, I'm going to walk."

"Then you had better get a move on, you don't want another tardy sending you to Saturday detention." Her mother stood and walked her to the door, kissing her on the cheek as she left.

* * *

Pacey sped on his bike as he took the long way to school, he didn't want to pass the McPhee house this morning. The idea of having to deal with Andie, this soon after he'd broken off with her, made him shudder unpleasantly. As he turned the corner, he saw Abby walking near the curb.

He felt the blood rush to his cheeks as he neared her, would she be able to tell that he had dreamt of her in his arms? _Pacey, man, she can't read your mind._ He slowed his bicycle down slightly, deciding whether he should walk with her. Whether she wanted him to.

Abby's heart leaped as she saw him turn the corner, approaching her. Her mind swam with questions. _Why is he riding down **my** street? Does he want to walk with me? Could he possibly **like me**?_ She looked at him expectantly as he passed her, irrationally upset when he didn't stop. _Why would he want to spend any time with you? You're just an obnoxious, overbearing bitch._ She heard his tires screech ahead of her as he ground the bike to a halt.

His face was flushed and he bent over to catch his breath, looking up at her and smiling awkwardly.

"Hey..."

"Hi, Pacey."

Neither of them knew what to say in each other's presence, they had no idea what they were doing, but everything felt both right and strange.

In Pacey's mind, he felt torn in three directions; part of him knowing that he shouldn't care what anyone would think if he went with his gut reaction, part knowing that he should really give himself time to deal with Andie, and the nagging part--nudging him-- channeling his friends complaints. And they would certainly complain; but when he saw her smile at him, he could only think about touching her face, running his fingertips along her cheekbones.

Abby walked towards him, her eyes slightly confused. She was happy, no--that was an understatement, she was overjoyed that he had stopped for her, but she had reservations about whatever it was that was happening. She worried that she was taking his actions the wrong way, it seemed as if he could actually be interested in her, but lots of guys acted that way. They all wanted to get in her pants. They had had a bonding moment the night before, but he was on the rebound, more reason for her to think that he might just want to use her. Most guys were the same, and most guys sucked. One thing and one thing only on their minds.

As she approached him, he got off of his bike, walking beside her and turning to speak.

"Feeling any better today?"

"Same as usual, I guess. Nothing for you to worry about, I'm sure." _Shit! Why did I just say that? He's trying to be nice._

"Oh... I see... the real Abby Morgan comes back to rear her ugly head, I shoulda known." He got back onto his bike and began to ride away from her. Getting a few yards of distance between them, he heard her call his name and stopped.

"I'm sorry, it's a defense mechanism. I guess I just need to start learning when I can turn it off... y'know?"

"Yeah, I think I know it well."

"So, how about you? Are you feeling better about the whole Andie thing?"

"Not really. I just don't even want to see her today... I feel, I don't know, sort of guilty about breaking up with her. I know that I shouldn't, there was no way around it. You're supposed to feel happy when you're around your significant other, right?"

Abby looked at her nails, anything to not meet his gaze. "I guess... yeah. At least that's what I've heard. Technically, you're supposed to feel good around them."

"She always made me feel like an asshole."

_Stupid, stupid girl,_ she thought to herself.

"But I know that I hurt her pretty bad yesterday. I didn't mean to, but what was I supposed to do? Stay with her because **she** was happy? I just don't think so... but I still don't want to see her, it's going to be more drama than I think I want to deal with today."

Abby thought for a moment, afraid to open her mouth lest something acrid come flying forth. Pacey's face twisted as they neared the school.

"We could always cut."

"We?" He looked at her trying to read her face for some sort of sign of what she was trying to get out of him. It seemed unlikely that her motives were selfless, and even more unlikely that she wanted to spend any time with him.

"Yeah. We. What do I have going for me in there today? Another day fighting off the uninspiring advances of Chris Wolfe? Oh! Better yet, another exciting lecture from Mr. Peterson on my impending failure? Duh... I think our minds are made up. We ditch."

They stopped feet from the High School campus, staring at the imposing building. They could both see the student body frantically entering to start another day. Dawson Leery stood at the top of the stairs, his eyes scanning the crowd and finding Pacey's.

"Shit--I think Dawson just saw me," he mumbled, his lips hardly moving.

"So? Pretend that you haven't seen him and let's make a break for it."

"You think that'll work?"

"I don't know, but it's our best option."

"Alright. Which way?"

"Back towards my house, my mom will have left for work by now, we'll figure the rest out from there."

"Okay. Get on the bike."

Pacey put his knapsack on both shoulders, tightening the straps so it sat high on his back, and straddled the bicycle as Abby pushed herself onto the seat. He turned to her and smiled broadly.

"Hold on," they sped away in the opposite direction from Capeside High, not looking back. Abby's hands were on his hips, holding on for dear life, as she watched the houses fly by her, her hair whipping in the air. Her fingers tingled as she pushed her thumbs through his belt loops, her hands resting dangerously close to his backside.

_Man, that is one exceptional ass,_ she thought to herself, watching as it moved up and down as his strong legs alternately pumped quickly on the pedals.

He wondered if she felt it too, the pummeling of attraction between them when her hands touched him. They pulled into her driveway and he slowed the bike to a stop, putting both feet to the ground. Her hands were still on him and he feared that if he turned around, she might see the look on his face and know what he was thinking.

"After you, m'lady," he said breathlessly without turning his head.

"Oh! Uh...," she stuttered, realizing that they were in front of her house, embarrassed to have been caught in a daydream. "Let's bring the bike around back, so no one can see it."

"Yeah, good idea." He followed behind her, his eyes traveling the length of her bare legs to her ankles, one covered only by a thin, silver chain. _What the hell are you doing, Witter?_ She was so small and sexy, her short dress moving around the middle of her thighs as she walked in her high, clunky heeled shoes.

She turned to look at him over her shoulder, somewhat flirtatiously, and saw as his ears turned a dark crimson. Her lips turned up slightly.

"What?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh... nothing."

They entered her house through the back door and into the kitchen where she had sat less than an hour before with her mother, their coffee mugs still sitting on the table. Abby picked them up and brought them to the sink, motioning for Pacey to make himself comfortable. He looked almost as uncomfortable as she felt.

"You want something to drink, or something? I could make more coffee?"

"Never touch the stuff, you got a coke in there?" he said pointing to the refridgerator.

"Probably..." She stuck her head into the fridge, the icy air cooling her off considerably. She felt as if it was three hundred degrees in her house, but she knew that it had everything to do with being alone with him. She pulled out a soda and handed it to him, their fingers touching lightly when he reached for it. Their eyes met and they both looked away bashfully.

Pacey felt himself blush again. He laughed nervously and scratched at his temple.

"This is ridiculous. I feel like I'm in seventh grade, or something. Let's both try to relax and enjoy our self-imposed day off, okay?" It was more of a statement than a question, but he knew that he had to say something. The tension between them was getting out of hand, and he was never one to keep his feelings buried. That was one of the things that Andie disliked most about him, always telling him to stop being so impetuous, so impulsive--to stop doing or saying things without thinking first. He stopped himself mid-thought, not wanting to think about Andie right now, not while he was here with Abby. He flipped modes and turned on the Witter charm.

"So what shall we do, oh fine mistress? Shall we laze around your home watching television programmed for middle-aged housewives? Shall we gorge ourselves until sated, eating everything in your home? No, that would surely alert your mother to our crime. Or maybe, we should run naked through Capeside's well-appointed streets until my father picks us up for lewd and lascivious conduct? Any thoughts on the matter?"

Abby laughed, glad that the new tension between them had been acknowledged, even more relieved that she hadn't had to be the one to say it herself. She found herself a woman of fewer words when she didn't feel the need to be sarcastic. She laughed at his list of proposed activities, choosing the former for the time being. Feeling bold, she stood and took his hand, leading him into the T.V. room.

They sat on the love seat, sinking into its soft cushions. Her mother had made this the center of their home, they spent most of their time there. Abby kicked off her sandals and curled her legs on the couch, tucking her toes beneath Pacey's legs and going for the remote.

"Any suggestions?"

"Just flip, and I'll let you know when something captures my interest." Their smiles became wider and they settled into the couch.

"I'm sure that you will..."

They had gone from disastrously anxious to comfortably flirtatious in a matter of moments. She knew that she could flirt with the best of 'em when she had to, but no one had ever made her feel like it was really welcome, and usually, she hadn't wanted it to be.

Fact was, Abby was terrified of most men, which was why she always went for the ones that it would be near impoosible to achieve. Knowing that her work would go fruitlessly, gave her the confidence to attempt it. But Pacey was different, it seemed. Not so fruitless.

Still, her feelings were mixed. Partially scared shitless over the prospect of actually having to carry on any semblance of a relationship, and jostled by the possibility of his faking his affections towards her solely to get over his newly ex-girlfriend. The only thing that she was sure of, was that she liked the way that she felt right now, curled up on the couch with him, his fingers absently playing on the charms of her ankle bracelet.

"There! Leave this on--this is great!"

"Pacey, hockey? I absolutely refuse. What do **I** get out of that?"

"The pleasure of knowing that I am enraptured by the drama of the game." He fluttered his long, sexy eyelashes at her.

"Bzzzz... Not enough, try again," she giggled.

His hands slid over one bare foot and he squeezed his fingers gently.

"Foot massage?"

"Ahhhh... tell the gentleman what he's won!"

She stretched her legs across his lap and he went to it, his strong palms kneading at her feet and toes as he watched the game. His excitement mounted with each play, and so did hers.

Abby tossed her head back on the arm of the couch, ignoring the skaters whooshing around the television. She concentrated solely on the feeling of his hands on her heels and moving up the backs of her legs. She might have let out a small moan because he looked at her and smiled, as if he had gained some minute success.

"Good?"

"Great." he turned his attention back to the television, still rubbing her skin beneath his hands.

* * *

After a couple of hours had passed, they still found themselves on the couch, almost snuggling. It had been an insane couple of hours really, they would unconsciously move closer and closer to each other, find themselves there, and one or the other would pull away, but only slightly. They didn't want to step on each other's toes, overstep any boundaries. It was a battle though, their bodies against their minds.

Pacey reached out and touched her collarbone, his fingers hardly grazing her skin. She tensed beneath his touch and he pulled his hand away.

"I'm sorry, Abby. I... I... hmm."

"Don't be sorry, Pacey," she said embarrassed. "I was just caught off guard, you're much more honest to yourself than I am."

"What do you mean?"

"You allow yourself to do what you want to do when the feeling hits, you know? And I really respect that, really. I hold it in and convince myself that it's a bad idea," her voice dropped. "It probably is..."

"What _do_ you want to do?" Pacey looked at her seriously, she felt her face growing hotter, knowing that she must be blushing something awful. No one had ever affected her this way, she feared that she would get too relaxed around him and it would lead to something that would eventually hurt her. His honesty seemed to have no price, but she was afraid hers would.

"Abby? Since we're talking about honesty here, do you mind if I get brutally so?"

She wasn't sure of the answer herself, but decided that since this day had already gone the way that it had, and since there hadn't really been any negative fallout, she nodded.

"This is strange, y'know? I **know** it is, but still, I'm really enjoying spending time with you. Last night, today--the past three hours, sitting here with you, I've felt really... good. I don't know where all of this is leading, but I just know that I like it." He weighed his words carefully. "I think that I've spent a lot of time misjudging you, and I apologize--"

She stopped him.

"Don't apologize, Pacey. I'm a real bitch, I**know** that. I've given you nothing to misjudge, I put myself out there to be taken exactly at face value, and on the face of that coin, I'm quite an unpleasant person to be around. But you are right about one thing..."

He looked at her, watching her full lips speak and moving closer to her. Every part of his body willed him to kiss her, but his entire mind told him to hold back. Their faces were a foot apart.

"What's that?" He brought his eyes up to meet hers.

"This _is_ strange... but I... I feel... I feel good around you too."

Her eyes traced the path from his eyes to his lips and back to return his gaze.

"Pacey? Are you going to kiss me?"

"The thought _had_ crossed my mind." 

* * *

To Be Continued....

   [1]: mailto:pilar@chickmail.com



	3. What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day

_Disclaimer:_ Don't own jack, not a character, location, none of it... The title comes from a great book by Pearl Cleage (Thanks Kilby!), don't own it either! Please don't sue me.... Also have no rights to using the lyrics of that fabulous song down there in italics, it's "A Common Disaster" by The Cowboy Junkies off their album "Lay It Down"... 

_Rating:_ So far, PG-13... a couple of bad words thrown in, you know what a potty-mouth I have!

_Feedback:_ Please, please, please write me... I hate to beg, but this is what it's come down to. I'm seriously getting almost no feedback! Please drop me a line at [pilar@chickmail.com][1]. Thanks!

* * *

* * *

Part Three  
  


* * *

_A candle burning for everything I've ever wanted  
A tattoo burned for everything  
I've ever wanted and lost.  
I had a long list of names that I kept in my back pocket,  
but I've cut it down to one and your name's at the top._

Won't you share a common disaster?  
Share with me a common disaster?  
Ohhhh... a common disaster.

Going to find me someone to share  
a common disaster.  
Run away with me from a life so cramped and dull.  
Not worry too much about the happy-ever-after.  
Just keep the Caddy moving  
'til we're well beyond that hill.  


* * *

As Pacey's face inched closer to hers, both of their minds closed to unconscious protestations. So what if it might not be the best idea either of them had had, so what? She closed her eyes and awaited the pressure of his lips against hers.

It wasn't an especially passionate kiss, more like they were testing the waters, checking out the scene. Her lips were soft and welcoming, he brought his closer, watching as her eyes closed to him as they neared. When they touched, he could feel his heart skip a beat and his breath catch in his throat.

As they parted, she opened her eyes slowly and brought them up to meet his, her mouth curling into a small smile. He brought his hand to her face and ran the backs of his fingers along her cheekbones, smiling into her eyes. She looked over his shoulder at the clock on the wall.

"We should get out of here before my mom decides to come back for lunch," she said in a low voice. She didn't want to put a break in the moment that they had just shared.

"Okay. Where do you want to go? I'm getting kinda hungry... should we grab something and take it somewhere?"

"Yeah... good idea." She stood and he watched as she walked into the kitchen, joining her there moments later when he figured he could get up without risking embarrassment. "What are you into? I've got some leftover chicken and stuff, we could make a couple of sandwiches?"

"Sounds fine to me." He smiled at her again, the tension between them had returned. It wasn't necessarily a negative tension really, simply an unassuredness that they were both feeling for their own reasons. He wanted to explain things to her, feeling that he should be completely open about everything that was going through his mind. It seemed like the best way for them to start this, whatever this was. She seemed very uneasy about him at times, and he could sense something within her saying _Take it slow..._. He joined her at the counter and helped her assemble their lunch, pressing his leg against her.

"Where do you want to go, Pacey?" She turned her whole body to face him when she spoke, looking boldly at him, hoping to catch him off guard as he had her so many times in the past hours. She didn't like to feel that she didn't have the upper hand in any situation, even though she knew that it only seemed that way for seconds. Controlling the turn of events soothed her, made her into the person that she so often seemed to be. She wanted him to kiss her again. She tilted her neck back to look into his face, easily a foot above hers.

"I don't know... the beach? The park? Something like that?" Pacey cocked his head to one side, looking down at her. The look in her eyes as she stared at him, a jar of mayonnaise in one hand, stirred something inside of him that he had not felt since before his relationship with Tamara had ended. He lifted Abby by the waist and propped her on the edge of the sink, her face just about level with his. She laughed slightly as his lips closed on hers for the second time.

She wasn't nervous when she felt him kiss her waiting lips. She had orchestrated the moment, knowing how to move him towards her. She snaked her arms around his neck and opened her mouth to him, feeling his tongue mingle with hers and his hands press against the small of her back. Their passion for each other heightened by the second, she was aware of the spread of heat between her legs as he pressed himself against her, his lips journeying over her chin and down her neck.

"We really should go... really..." She finally said, breathlessly. He helped her down, his hands still on her waist, the fire still burning in his luscious, green eyes.

"You're right. How about the trail out behind the Junior High?" he said, regaining his composure and attempting to wrap their sandwiches and place them into a paper bag.

"Sure...," she said questioningly. "I don't think I know it, you'll have to lead the way."

"I think that I can do that," he grinned devilishly at her.

Abby took Pacey's outstretched hand as they walked from her house and to the street, stopping to hide his bike in the bushes by the side of her house. They had gotten a couple of blocks away when he pulled her between two houses and they started towards the woods.

"This kind of reminds me of summer camp," she said looking around her at the lush, green trees. The weathered walking trail stretched before them, leading seemingly nowhere, deep into the forest. Bugs of all sizes flew around them and the tall shrubs licked at their legs as they walked.

"Dawson and Joey and I used to ride our bikes through here when we were little kids playing _21 Jump Street_. They always used to make me be Penhall, the chunky cop... It sucked. I wanted to be Johnny Depp. Damn... how much easier was it when we were, like 9 years old? No cares in the world beyond running around and getting filthy. No worries at all."

"Yeah... even a few years ago, before high school. When did being young get so complicated?"

"I don't know, but I'm beginning to think that it really doesn't have to be." He reached around her, snapping a flower off of a low branch and putting his arm around her shoulder, handing it to her. The sun shone through the leaves of the trees, casting moving kaleidoscope patterns on the path as they walked along.

Soon they came to a bright, grassy clearing in the trees. Pacey led her to a large stump and they leaned against it, the overgrown ivy scratching at their bare legs. Abby turned her face to the sky and looked around her.

"This is very pretty, Pacey. What other tricks do you and Capeside have up your sleeves?" she said, slapping another mosquito away from her arm.

"You'd be surprised by the secrets this little town keeps."

"Yeah, like the one about you and Miss Jacobs, that didn't seem to be a kept secret for too long..." His face fell and Abby felt immediately remorseful for putting her foot in her mouth, yet again. She cringed. "Pacey, I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm doing sometimes. Damn. Please forget that I even said that... Let me start over. You said I'd be surprised by the secrets this town keeps, well... you'll just have to tell me all about them, then."

"It's okay. I'll forgive you, but just this once." He said, forcing a small smile. "Abby, I'd like to think that we could be as normal around each other as possible. Neither one of us are that used to people being good to us for no reason, so I know it's a different situation that both of us need to get used to. Let's try not to just spout things that might hurt the other one's feeling just as a matter of keeping up walls. I like you."

"I like you too, Pacey,", she said, tipping her eyes upward to look into his. His stomach growled and she couldn't suppress her giggles, glad that another horrible moment between them had passed them by. She began unpacking their lunches and they ate, their conversation lively and flirtatious. Things were still bothering her though, and she knew that was the reason she kept saying things to keep an amount of distance between them.

"Pacey--I know that this is none of my business, but I have to ask... What's going to happen between you and Andie?" She had been mulling this question over and over in her mind for hours, finally mustering up the courage to seek an answer. The mood between them intensified as the words exited her lips.

"Nothing." His eyes turned dark as he turned his attention to his lap. "I don't want to be with anyone who doesn't want to be with me. I admit, it's not the the ideal situation and there hasn't really been any resolve between the two of us yet. I thought that I really had it bad for her, but this has been coming for a while now and even though it's not going to be easy being around her for a while, it is really over. Completely over."

"But do you still love her?"

"I don't know that I ever **have** loved her, Abby... I'm starting to think that maybe I was just so desperate to be in a normal relationship that I just grabbed onto her and lost myself in what I thought would make me happy. But I haven't been happy, and I'm really tired of always getting the short end of the stick, you know?" "I guess... look, I'm sorry to have brought all of this up, I keep on managing to ruin it every time we're having a nice time."

"Abby, I'm still having a nice time, really. I think it's important that we're open about everything, especially since it's not like we know each other very well. You don't seem the type of woman who goes into things blindly." He put a hand on her face, fingers resting on her temple. He ran them along the side of her cheek and traced her lips. "I would like to get to know you better, Abby. It's nice finding out that you're not who I thought you were."

"Me too, Pacey." Her heart was pounding in her chest, she thought for sure that he could hear it.

Pacey scooted down, lying in the grass and pulling her down to him. She put her head on his chest and felt his arm encircle her shoulders. If this day could go on forever, the two of them carved into each other relaxing in the sun, insects swirling around them; she could feel confident and serene--but the day would end at some point and Abby couldn't help but fear the worst. It was her nature to feel that way, she hoped that she was wrong.

Every time that she began to feel unsure, he would do something else that would make her mind twist 180 degrees. Just as her feelings of doom were setting in, he began running his fingers along her ribcage. She turned onto her stomach and looked him in the eyes, an evil grin creeping over his lips as he dug his fingers into her sides, tickling her.

Abby squirmed to get away from him but he brought his other arm around her, holding her tightly in place with his strong arms. Finally, shrieking, she broke from his grasp.

"You bastard! Leave me alone!" She laughed, running away from him quickly. He was much faster than her and had her back in his clutches within seconds, still harassing her with tickles.

"Stop! Stop! I give!!! Uncle!!!"

"Oh, you give in, do you? No chance!" His hands were all over her waist and he had her giggling uncontrollably She collapsed against him, panting, and they sunk together to the ground.

His lips found hers and they began to kiss, her body relaxing into his as she felt his warm breath on her mouth and tasted his soft tongue searching between her lips. There was something incredibly right when they got together this time. All of their earlier trepidation wasting away to nothing, every kiss better than the last.

Pacey couldn't fight his longings any further. His hands moved along her body, up her legs and around her waist. His hormones urged him on but he knew that he had to keep them in check, and keep their relationship innocent until they were both ready. To move too fast would be a betrayal to both of them. They made out like crazy, suspending time.

Abby lay on her back next to Pacey, they stared into the sky watching the full, white clouds pass them by slowly.

"Have you ever tried cloud busting?" she said, turning her face to his.

"Cloud busting?"

"Yeah... you concentrate on one cloud, for as long as you possibly can, staring at it and willing it to break apart and go away."

"There's no way you can do that. You can't make clouds disappear like magic."

She turned her face back to the sky and pointed up to a fat cloud hanging above them. "Oh ye of little faith... stare at that one and really believe, you have to really think hard and imagine it disappearing. OK?"

"This is so not going to work," he laughed.

"Come on... what if the children didn't believe in Tinkerbell... you have to **believe**."

"Fine... I'll try. This cloud, you say?"

"Yes... that cloud. Concentrate on making it disappear." She reached over and took his hand in hers and they lay side by side on the soft grass, their eyes fixed on the blue and white sky. About six minutes passed and the cloud had dissipated.

She rolled onto her side, still holding his hand. "See? We did it."

He put a hand around around her neck, pulling her towards him. "You are amazing."

* * *

Pacey brought his bike in to the carport and pulled his keys from his knapsack, opening his front door and entering his house. As usual, all was quiet in the Witter home and he assumed that he was alone. He began to walk up the stairs to his bedroom, when his father stepped out of his office, a stern look on his face.

"Pacey? Care to explain something to me?"

"Yeah, Pop?" Pacey could tell that his father was angry, but then again, when had his father not been angry at him. He searched his mind for something that he could have done to get on his bad side once again. Maybe left out the milk after breakfast? Didn't cap the toothpaste?

"I'd like you to listen to something and then explain to me what we have heard. Do you think that your limited brain capacity can handle those simple instructions?" He shoved Pacey into a chair facing his desk, pressing the button on the answering machine.

Beep. "Pacey? Are you there? Where the hell are you? You weren't in school today and I swear that I saw you take off with Abby Morgan, but I didn't see you get on her broom. So I have to think I'm wrong. Are you there? Pacey? Well... I'm going to assume that you're sick and stayed home and are in bed. Call me later, when you get this... I want to tell you something about Andie."

Pacey sat looking into his father's boiling eyes, his face was getting redder by the second.

"Sir? Uh..."

"Pacey. Don't even attempt to lie to me. If you lie, I will slap you so hard you'll starve to death before you stop rolling."

"Sir, I know that there's never an excuse for skipping school, but, well... I broke up with my girlfriend yesterday, and I didn't really want to deal with it this morning, so I cut class. I'm very sorry and it will never happen again."

"Don't try to bullshit a bullshitter, you little pissant. You're grounded. I don't want to hear anything about you not going to school ever again. In fact, I don't want to see you doing anything other than going to school and coming home and studying. Do you understand me?"

Pacey's eyes remained glued to the floor in front of him.

"Yes, sir."

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, you piece of shit. **Do you understand me?**" Chief Witter's face was hard as stone. Pacey brought his eyes up to meet his father's, wanting nothing more than to get this over with and get out of this room. Meeting his eyes, his father's face changed and Pacey thought for a minute that he might take a swing at him.

"Yes, sir. I understand."

"Get the hell out of my face, you disgust me."

Pacey rose and began walking out of the room, passing his mother in the hallway. She stopped him, putting a hand on his cheek.

"It'll be alright, darling. He'll get over this soon enough. You really shouldn't be cutting school, though," she whispered.

"Sorry, Ma." He watched as she entered the room he had just left.

"John..."

"Now what the hell do **you** want?"

"I just..."

"What are we going to do with that kid? The little bastard..." Pacey turned and walked into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him softly. He didn't need to hear his father's ruminations on how crappy a son he was. He flopped onto his bed and picked up the phone.

It was picked up on the third ring.

"Hi Mrs. Leery, it's Pacey. Is Dawson there?" "Yes, sweetie. Hold on a second. Dawson? Pacey's on the phone for you."

"Hey Pace--"

"What the hell were you thinking Dawson? You know I've only got one phone. My father just about blew a fucking gasket."

"What did I do?"

"Dawson. Get a clue, okay. You left a message on my machine saying I wasn't in school. Did you think for a second that I might be cutting? Duh!" Pacey was infuriated that Dawson could be so dense. It was amazing, to him, how someone so smart, could be so socially inept at times.

"Man... I guess I wasn't thinking about it."

"What else is new, Dawson. What did you want to tell me, anyway?"

"Oh! I saw Andie this morning and she was looking for you. She told me that you broke up with her yesterday? What were you thinking, man? The woman is perfect. I thought the two of you were really going to go the distance."

"Yeah well, our relationship was really one-sided Dawson. I wasn't very happy with her. So I decided to break it off now, before we got any closer. It's for the best, really." Pacey sighed deeply into the phone, his mind was not on Andie at all.

"Are you okay, I mean... well, you know. Are you really cool with this?"

"I'm fine, Dawson. Really. Was Andie alright? You said that you wanted to tell me something _about_ her."

"Yeah... I guess she was alright... She didn't look very good, she came over and asked me where you were and I said that I thought I saw you take off this morning with Abby and she freaked. She was talking so fast I could hardly understand her, said that you'd broke up with her and that you weren't home all night last night and she said she called you a bunch of times and that you weren't answering her calls. Then she tore into the bathroom. She was definitely upset. I think she might have been crying."

"Shit. Yeah... I figured she'd be really worked today. That's why I didn't want to come to school. I got just about there and decided against it. I think she needs some time and space to get over it."

"Speaking of which... did you take off with Abby? Please tell me I was seeing things, please. That girl is evil incarnate."

A fire rose inside of him, but he quelled it silently. "She's not evil, Dawson."

"So you _were_ with her... what's that about? Spill, Witter."

"There's nothing to spill. Look, I gotta go... I'll see you tomorrow." He hung up the phone without giving Dawson a chance to argue. Just another thing that he would have to deal with tomorrow.

Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling, losing himself in reverie. The vision of her laughing as they collapsed to the grass together playing over in his head. He smiled as he thought of her full, pink lips and the way that her hand felt in his as they walked. Right now, he could easily spend every waking moment with her and each one would be a surprise. They had been out of each other's presence for less than an hour and he already missed her.

When the phone rang, he looked at it with disdain, knowing that Andie was on the other end. He turned away from it, hoping that it would just stop on its own, wishing that she could go a night without calling him. It was selfish, but he had nothing to say to her yet. There was just nothing left that wouldn't hurt her feelings more than he already had, and he never set out to hurt her. Eventually, he would have to speak to her, but right now, he only wanted to concentrate on positive relationships rather than the negative.

"Pacey?", his mother called from outside his door.

"Yeah, Ma?"

"Your girlfriend, Andie, is on the phone," she said through the door.

"Mom, please tell her that I'm at work or at Dawson's or something... please." He turned back towards the ceiling, willing the situation to pass without incident.

"Pacey. I don't want to lie to her for you. This is the third time that she's called today, and I don't know how many times yesterday, don't you think--"

"Please," he interrupted, "I really don't want to talk right now. Tell her the truth, tell her that I'm grounded."

"Alright... alright. Dinner will be ready in a half hour, so come downstairs soon, okay?"

"Thanks, Ma," he sighed deeply. _Narrowly missed..._ Andie was entirely too dramatic for him, everything always had to be an issue. Not a day had gone by during their relationship, that didn't include some sort of trauma. In their conversation, Dawson said that she had spazzed when he mentioned spotting him and Abby. Abby... he needed to talk to her, they needed to figure out what they were going to do about each other in the wake of Andie's crises. Andie, still creating drama in his life, even though he'd already cut her loose.

Dialing Jen Lindley's number, he tried to come up with a viable excuse for wanting to get in touch with Abby.

"Hello?"

"Hey Jen, this is Pacey. How're ya doin'?" He tried to sound light and airy, normal.

"I'm good, thanks. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Actually... well, I wasn't feeling well this morning so I took the day off, but I need to get my history homework done and I lent my book to Abby, I was wondering if you could give me her number?" _There Pacey, now was that so hard?_

"Heh, sure Pacey. Hold on a second, let me get it for you..." She returned within seconds, "Here you go, got a pen?"

"Yeah." He heard a bizarre tone in her voice and wondered paranoically if she was getting ideas.

"It's 555-9436."

"Thanks, Jen. I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"I hope you're feeling better, and Pacey?" _Uh oh_ Jen was pretty perceptive most of the time, but then again, Pacey was probably getting nervous for nothing.

"Uh huh?"

"You know, if you need anyone to talk to about Andie, or _anything else_, you know I'm here. I'm a pretty good listener and I think you'll find I can give a relatively unbiased opinion."

"Dawson tell you?"

"I bumped into her today, so she told me. But look, I'm around... if you need me, really."

"Thanks Jen, I appreciate it."

"No worries, anytime. Say hello to Abby for me, she wasn't in school today either."

"Alright. Later."

"Goodnight, Pacey," she said hanging up the phone. He stared at the dead receiver for a moment. _What the hell was that about?_

* * *

P> Abby sat in the T.V. room with her mother. They had eaten dinner on the couch together, watching some stupid game show that her mom was into. They were not filled with conversation, so Abby knew that her mother hadn't noticed when she'd arrived with Pacey and they had kissed again, leaning against the side of her house. He retrieved his bike from its hiding spot and she'd watched as he rode off, his jacket flapping in the wind.

Now she felt the spot where they had sat for so many hours, remembering his warmth and the way his hands had felt on her. For the first time, a man had made her feel good about herself, not like he wanted to get her into bed, but that he wanted her. She was staring blankly into the television screen when the she heard the telephone.

"Hello?" Her mother answered on the second ring.

"Um... hello, Ms. Morgan. May I speak to Abby, please," he said extremely politely.

"Yes, who may I say is calling?"

"Pacey Witter, Ma'am."

"Hold on a moment, Pacey." She held out the receiver to Abby, mouthing _So polite..._

Abby's eyes lit up when she heard his name. There was no concealing her surprise and delight at his call, her hand shot out to take the phone from her mother.

"Hey...," she said walking slowly out of the room.

"Hey yourself... how're you doin'?"

"I'm good, long time no speak to... I met the sweetest guy and I think he likes me," she whispered flirtatiously.

"Hmmmm, really now? Anyone I should be horrendously jealous of? Do I have to kick his ass?"

"You might..." She wished that he could see her smiling at him through the phone line.

"So, I got caught."

"You're kidding me! How?"

"Dawson. He left a message on our machine."

"Pacey, I know he's your friend, but oh my god..."

"Don't even say it. I realize that he's not exactly the swiftest sometimes, but he's the best friend I've had my whole life. Although this... pretty stupid." She could almost see his green eyes rolling. "So now I'm grounded."

"I'm sorry... that blows." Selfishly, she wondered how little time they were going to have to spend together. She heard the line click. "Is that your other line? I could hold on?"

"Ignore it, it's probably Andie again, and I'm still in the avoidance stage."

"Oh..." Abby cringed at the sound of her name. She had a string feeling that little miss perfect was soon to become the bane of her existance.

"Abby, I know that this is going to sound lame, but do you think that we can keep this, _us_, kinda low-profile for a while? I don't want Andie getting the wrong idea, y'know?"

"The wrong idea? You know, maybe I'm the one who's gotten the wrong idea." She clenched her teeth and felt her nostrils flare. _See what happens, Abby? See? They are all the same._

"Abby--that's not what I meant. Stop it. I just don't want anyone thinking that I dumped her for another woman. I don't want her feelings hurt any more than they already have been. She's got it tough enough, Abby."

"I'm sure. Well... I'm sure we'll figure out something." Here she was, wanting to run through the streets telling everyone that she met that they had gotten together, and he was thinking about _her_. All said, Abby was a bit disappointed. She didn't think that they'd immediately be a couple or anything, but the idea of sneaking around wasn't sitting well either.

"I'm sorry, Abby. I don't really want it to be like this either..."

"I know..." He'd done it again, just when she was getting bitter and angry and starting to believe the voice inside her that told her to be wary, he said something to make her feel the opposite.

"Well look, I'll see you before school tomorrow, okay? I have a feeling I'll be getting a police escort for the next few days."

"Okay, I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night... sweet dreams, Abby."

"G'nite..." She hung up the phone feeling confused but somehow content that they would be able to get through this impasse, together.

* * *

To be continued...

   [1]: mailto:pilar@chickmail.com



	4. What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day

_Disclaimer:_It still stands form all of the other parts and whatnot... Song lyrics are copyright Pat Benetar, from "Here's My Heart" on the Metropolis soundtrack.

_Feedback:_ Please, please, please write me... I hate to beg, but this is what it's come down to. I want your feedback and I want it now! Please drop me a line at[pilar@chickmail.com][1]. Thanks!

* * *

* * *

Part Four  
  


* * *

_Our two worlds met in strange surprise  
I hid my love in thin disguise  
I tried to leave, how could I stay?  
What if my heart gave me away?  
I always thought I'd be prepared  
But love just caught me unaware  
You said the words and I believed  
I fell so hard, I fell so deep  
Love can't hide, though it tries  
Hearts catch fire, so has mine  
Here's My Heart  
So true love triumphs once again  
It always makes it in the end  
And if you let the heart run free  
It will return faithfully  
Love can't hide, though it tries  
Hearts catch fire, all the time  
Helpless love walks the line  
Hearts catch fire, the hour is fine  
Here's My Heart  
Love can't hide, though it tries  
Hearts catch fire, all the time  
Helpless love walks the line  
Hearts catch fire, so has mine  
Here's My Heart  
_

* * *

"Ugh..." Pacey let out a long groan as he awoke, the skin of his arms and legs tight and itchy. He rolled over and turned on the light beside his bed. The clock read 4:15am, far to early to be this awake or this uncomfortable.

A horrible rash covered half his body, red and bumpy and itchier than all get out. Poison Ivy. Poison Ivy covering every available inch of skin that hadn't been protected by clothing the day before. It was as if he had rolled around in ti deliberately.

"Damn it! This is just perfect, brilliant!" he muttered angrily to himself. His skin was enflamed and he was more than a little bit annoyed, but a thought passed through his head and he had to laugh. Abby would most certainly have a similar case, and if he had to suffer through this torment, he was pleased that he wouldn't have to go it alone. He went to the bathroom for some Calamine, stripped off his night clothes and went back to bed.

* * *

"Mo-om! Mommy!!!" Abby yelled down to her mother in a whiny tone. Within seconds, she opened the door and walked into Abby's room. Abby stood in front of her mirror, a horrified expression on her face. She wore a pink, sleeveless baby doll nightgown, her exposed skin broken out in a terrible rash.

"Oh my god! Abby!" she came closer to her, looking at her daughter's blistery arms "Is that Poison Ivy? Oh... honey.... I'll go get some Calamine and Benedryl and we'll take care of the itch." Abby's hand mindlessly reached down to her knee, but her mother slapped it away. "Don't scratch!"

"Mom..." Abby was her mother's baby, she would do just about anything to make her daughter happy.

"It'll be fine, sweetie... I promise. At least it's not on your face. And don't scratch, or you'll spread it."

She turned back to her reflection and scowled at it, her brows furrowed.

Her mother returned carrying ointment and pills and a glass of water, it took Abby a moment to notice that she was wearing rubber gloves, so she wouldn't catch it herself.

"Come here, darling, I'll put this on you. Does it itch very badly?" She looked at her daughter sympathetically and Abby nodded her head in the affirmative. "Take these, they might make you a little bit sleepy though."

Abby held out her hand and received the pills, taking them with a huge gulp of water. She looked sadly at her mother, jutting out her lower lip.

"I look heinous. What am I going to do?"

Her mother opened her closet after snapping off the rubber gloves, tossing them into the trash can. She went through Abby's ridiculous amount of clothes piece by piece.

"How about one of your long skirts, that cover your legs, but I'm afraid that with this Indian Summer heat, your arms are a lost cause. They're not all that terrible though, as long as you remember to try not scratch. You'll just make it look and feel worse. Now go wash up, and use the anti-bacterial soap. I'll drive you to school, since you're running late, alright?"

Abby felt more like throwing a temper tantrum than anything else. As much as she hated to admit it, her appearance was terribly important to her. Looking fantastic and dressing a bit over the top gave her bitchiness a bit of balance, something else to hide behind.

* * *

Chief Witter's squad car drove up to Capeside High and Pacey exited silently, scanning the crowd of students. He could see Andie across the quad talking with Jack and Joey, her back to him, thankfully. He still had no idea how he wanted to handle her. He knew that he was in complete avoidance, but it was better than having to face the music. Brakes squealed behind him and he turned around to see Abby getting out of her mother's car, she looked miserable and very annoyed. _Yet incredibly hot_, he thought to himself. He bent down and kissed her quickly on the cheek when she approached.

"Public displays of affection? I thought that we were _"laying low"_," she snapped at him.

"Come on, Abby," he smiled at her, "You know as well as I do that the jig is up the minute someone notices our matching skin ailments."

She was still pouting, but she had to laugh anyway. She hadn't even thought that he would be affected as well, and they did look pretty funny together. He hadn't even bothered to cover it up, wearing shorts and a short-sleeved button down shirt, his limbs looking raw and bumpy and shiny from Calamine gel. They stood staring at each other and listened as the first bell rang, summoning them to class.

Pacey hung back, noticing Andie turn and look over the crowd. Searching for him, no doubt. He knew that it had still only been a couple of days, but he just wanted the whole thing over and done with. Even if it **was** him who wasn't facing the problem. Finally, she looked at her watch and raced into the building. _Thank God she's Miss Punctual._

The crowd thinned out and Pacey took the opportunity to whisk Abby off of her feet and into his arms, kissing her passionately. When he returned her to the ground, she looked incredibly surprised, pleasantly.

"What was that for?" she asked, smirking at him.

"I figured I might not have another chance at that today, so I took the moment when it availed itself. Besides, I really couldn't help myself. You got a problem with that, woman?" He was so sexy when he played cute, she couldn't help but be charmed by him. He made her feel so... different.

"Not at all... but it's such a tease. I'm going to see you in the halls and in class, but I'm still going to miss you."

They were walking into the school, lagging behind everyone else, just seconds before the final bell would ring and they'd be late for class. He stopped her then, turning to her slowly and bending down. His lips brushed softly against her cheek en route to her ear.

"That might possibly be the nicest, sweetest, and sexiest thing anyone has ever said to me," he whispered, his hand caressing the side of her neck. He stole another quick kiss. Abby felt her entire face blush and the bell rang.

"Later?" He looked at her, his green eyes on fire.

"Later."

Pacey felt her eyes on him as he ran through the hall and into his classroom.

* * *

"Pacey? Are you still talking to me, or are you just too completely livid over my incredible ineptitude?" Dawson stood next to Pacey's locker, a pleading look on his face.

Pacey took a very deep breath and exhaled dramatically, crinkling his nose and rolling his eyes at his friend.

"Apologize more," he said, deadpan.

"What?" Dawson's mouth hung about an inch from the floor.

Pacey's face creeped slowly into a wide grin, he was really just too happy to be mad at anything right now. Not even Dawson for getting him busted and grounded.

"Eh... I'll get over it, you know I can't stay mad at you for long."

"How long are you grounded for?" Dawson asked, wincing.

"He didn't say... you know how that bastard operates, he'll milk this for as long as he can stand seeing me around the house. I give it two or three weeks, tops."

"I'm sorry, man... By the way, have you seen Andie yet? She's been searching for you non-stop."

"Hope. I've been avoiding her like the plague. I'm gonna have to talk to her eventually though... just hoping to put it off as long as possible."

Dawson's eyes fell on Pacey's forearm, which he'd been absently scratching. "Whoa! What happened to you?"

"Poison Ivy. Nice, huh?"

"How'd you manage that?" he said, laughing while surveying the damage.

"How about a little sympathy, D. You've no concept how much this itches. I swear, I've used half a bottle of this junk and I'm still ready to pull off all of my skin."

Pacey pulled the bottle of Calamine out of his knapsack, squirting some out into his hand and slathering it on his arms. Looking past his friends shoulder, his eyes locked onto Abby exiting a classroom a few feet away. She turned and their eyes met for a split second, Pacey gave her a small smile. When Dawson tried to follow his gaze, he averted his eyes quickly. She looked at him uncomfortably and walked past them to her locker.

"You still haven't told me where you picked it up, Pace." Pacey said nothing, his mind obviously elsewhere. "Uh.. hello... Pacey?" Dawson waved his hand in front of Pacey's face.

He came to, feigning a smile at Dawson and pretending he'd heard the question. Inappropriately, he nodded his head, hoping that a yes would suffice. Dawson turned and looked in the direction that Pacey had been staring, expecting to see Andie coming in for the kill. He didn't.

"You in there?"

"Oh? Yeah... sorry, I was just thinking about... uh... something."

"What's up with you today? You're in such a daze. If I didn't know better, I'd be under the assumption that there was a woman involved. You have that same look on your face as you did in the video store when--" Dawson cut himself off mid-sentence, his eyes falling on Abby Morgan digging through her locker, an identical bottle of anti-itch ointment in her hand. It was Pacey's turn to follow his friend's eyes. Catching hers, he winked.

"Oh my god! Pacey Witter, you dog! Andie's grave isn't even cold yet and you're putting it to Abby? What's going on between you and... her? Dawson's last word came out tinged with more disdain and incredulousness than he'd probably intended, Pacey shot his head around, glaring.

"Dawson." he didn't feel like he should have to explain himself to anyone, generally preferring to keep his personal life exactly that. It was complicated, even he didn't really know how to put into words what had brought him to this point. Saved by the bell, Pacey grabbed his history book and took off for class.

"I'll talk to you about this later, alright Dawson?" he said, sauntering backwards towards Abby and the class that they shared.

That you will... that you will." Dawson stood, shaking his head in disbelief, watching as Pacey sort of caught up with Abby, tipping his head at her indicating the direction of their classroom.

* * *

She sat three rows behind him, her eyes focused on the back of his neck, the area where his hairline softly tapered off and met the the collar of his dark blue shirt. There was nothing that their instructor could say that could break her concentration. His voice droned through the classroom and she pretended to take notes, the pen sitting motionless on the notebook that sat before her.

"Nice rash, Abby. What's up? Pacey Witter give you some sort of sexual disease?" came the taunting voice of Julia Hall; a nobody, innocuous blonde who sat next to her. Abby wrinkled her nose at her and gave her the finger. He was right, with identical cases of Poison Ivy and mysterious absences, everyone's immediate assumption was that they'd spent the previous day rolling around in a patch of it together. And they weren't too far from the truth.

"Miss Morgan, can you tell us which American president opened up relations with Communist China?"

"Um...," she hadn't heard anything beyond her name, and even if she had, the answer wouldn't have come. Homework had been ignored the night before, set aside when she found that she couldn't fix her mind on anything other than Pacey. Her eyes widened as the teacher stared at her impatiently and she opened her mouth to speak. Pacey turned to her and she read his lips.

"Uh... President Nixon, sir?"

"Thank you, Miss Morgan"

"No. Thank you." The polite comment was really directed at Pacey, he winked at her and she bit her lower lip. The bell rang, cutting the teacher off in the midst of his next question, and the students began bustling out of the classroom on their way to lunch.

Abby shoved her notebook into her bag and began to follow suit, passing him as he remained in his seat. She didn't get very far, feeling a weight on her book bag as he pulled her slowly back to him, reeling her in like a caught fish.

"Where do you think _you're_ going, Miss Morgan?"

"Locker. Cafeteria. Lunch." Snidely, she stood over him, her lips pursed holding back a smile.

"Oh, I see... playing hard to get. Your game is quite transparent to me, if you must know." His smoky, green eyes pierced into her, making her weak in the knees.

"Pacey, let me go eat lunch in peace, please. I'm hungry and tired and I want to take a brush to my legs. So please, just leave me be. Alright?" Confusion brought out intolerance, and she hadn't any idea what Pacey was trying to do to her. Where she had started out being sardonic simply to be cute, and in his words, to play hard to get; she found that she was genuinely irked. His attitude towards her in the hall had bothered her, and as much as she'd tried to let it go, she couldn't. He unconsciously made a face and slumped further into his chair.

They were alone in the classroom. Their instructor, paying little to no attention to them, had left and closed the door behind him. Abby turned towards it hesitantly, making her way out and secretly hoping that he would stop her again. When her hand reached for the doorknob, he shot out of his chair and called out her name. She looked back at him.

"What, Pacey?" Her voice was laden with annoyance.

"Can we talk about this, whatever this is?"

"Are you sure that you want to have this conversation now?" The ball was in her court and she didn't know precisely what she was feeling or how to verbalize what it was that ran through her. It made her hands sweat and heart pound in her ribcage, and at the same time, made her blood boil and her head throb. She sat down at a desk near the door; ready to speak, but having nothing to say.

"Abby, what's up with us? I don't get where your attitude is coming from right now." He looked genuinely hurt and concerned, the flirtatious demeanor from moments before dissipated as quickly as it had appeared. It was this hot and cold thing that he could turn on and off like a faucet, that bothered her most.

"I don't know, Pacey. I just get this feeling that this isn't the way things are supposed to be, you know? Yesterday, well... it was great, better than great. I had such a fantastic time with you and you made me feel so," she paused, thinking about how they'd spent the day together without considering complications. "But now... there's too much stuff going on and I don't like it. I know that I'm just rebound anyway, a convenient distraction."

"Jesus Abby, you can't really believe that. I don't think of you as a distraction." He reached out to touch her, but she pulled away.

"You say that now, but watch. I saw the way that you acted with Dawson before class, and I don't like the way that that made me feel. I don't think that I can deal with you pretending that there's nothing between us when you're with your friends. I'm better than that. I won't be your Saturday night special, I deserve more."

Pacey closed in on her, kneeling down so he could look into her eyes. He knew that he'd been an idiot in the hall, and he wanted to be able to redeem himself somehow, if it was even possible. He also was starting to find this exchange exhausting. _Are all women this demanding?_ he thought to himself, stifling a small smile.

You're right, Abby. You do deserve better than that, I don't know what to say for myself except that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you feel bad." He sat on the floor at her feet, leaning against the leg of the desk behind him. Y'know Abby, I'm the worst authority on relationships, everyone that I've been involved in up to now has been a complete disaster. So cut me a break, alright?"

The slightly angry tone of his voice, coupled with how obviously he was trying to smooth things out between them, gave her a weird sense of hope.

"Up to now?" she said, tilting her head coyly.

"Yeah... well... unless you don't even want to make a go of this, then I'm on strike three..." He placed his upturned palm on her knee, looking from her to it until she finally put her hand in his. He leaned in to kiss her as the door opened.

His lips had barely touched hers when they heard his name spoken softly from the doorway. Andie stood there, one hand clutching the knob, the other covering her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. Pacey receded from Abby slowly, weighing all of his options carefully and leaning back against the desk. His face turned white as a ghost.

"You callous, selfish, **fucking bastard**." Andie said each word slowly and deliberately while Pacey sat staring at her, saying nothing. There was absolutely nothing left to say. He felt awful. She turned away from them and ran from the room. Abby and he remained uncomfortably silent as they listened to her pounding footsteps decrescendo as she got further away from them.

His mind swam in a mixture of regret and relief. Although he would have preferred that this go a bit differently, Andie really didn't need to see he and Abby together so soon; he was strangely relieved that everything was now out in the open.

"I'm sorry, Pacey," Abby finally said.

"Why are you sorry? Abby, it was her bad timing, not ours. You should almost be happy, everything that I've been trying to avoid has just collided into us like a Mac truck."

He hadn't intended for his voice to be laced with such vitriol, and he quickly apologized.

"Pace, you know what? You're right. selfishly, I'm glad that we can forget about sneaking around and all of that crap, but I didn't want this to play out this way. I don't care about Andie, but I know that you didn't want her to be hurt by us, and she is. And I'm sorry about _that_. If I wasn't, that would be too screwed up, even for me."

Abby slid down to the floor, turning and sitting between his legs, her back to his chest; she wanted to be close to him. He rested his chin on her shoulder and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"I'm sorry, Abby," he said, bringing his arms around her. "This sucks."

"Yeah, well... maybe it's better to go through all the tough stuff now, at the beginning rather than later." She tilted her head back and looked up at him. "What's that saying? Whatever doesn't kill us only makes us stronger."

Pacey smiled sweetly at her, sliding his hand up her chest and lifting her face to his. He kissed her, his tongue lightly licking at her lips.

"I like your thinking, Miss Morgan," he said into her mouth as she deepened their kiss.

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

Let me know what you think by writing to me at [pilar@chickmail.com][1]. Thanks for reading!

   [1]: mailto:pilar@chickmail.com



	5. What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day

_Disclaimer:_It still stands form all of the other parts and whatnot... Song lyrics are copyright Pat Benetar, from "Here's My Heart" on the Metropolis soundtrack.

_Feedback:_ Please, please, please write me... I hate to beg, but this is what it's come down to. I want your feedback and I want it now! Please drop me a line at[pilar@chickmail.com][1]. Thanks!

* * *

* * *

Part Five  
  


* * *

* * *

_"In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two."   
-Erich Fromm_

* * *

"Dawson, this is really none of your business." Pacey leaned back against his locker, annoyed. They had already gone over this too many times and he was quite over it. Dawson somehow believed that he'd done something wrong, that he'd consciously and maliciously set out to hurt Andie.

"Pacey. **Your girlfriend is hysterical.** She came barreling into the lunchroom, practically mowed down half of the football team and collapsed on Jack, hysterical. What were you thinking?" His voice was raised further than Pacey could stand. He felt the vein in his neck begin to throb and the blood rush to his face as he heard his own voice boom decibels over that of his friend.

"She's not my girlfriend!!!" he yelled.

Checking himself, he quickly lowered his tone. Their argument had already attracted too much attention in the crowded hallway. Pacey cringed visibly.

"Are you getting any of this? I broke up with Andie, she is not my girlfriend. My relationship with her is finished, and I'm through discussing this with you."

"I never thought of you as the type of person who would be so fickle and so hard-hearted, but maybe I don't know you as well as I thought." It was a low blow. Dawson stood shaking his head at Pacey, who was seriously considering just walking away from this argument. "What made it acceptable for you to be all over _Abby Morgan_ right in front of Andie? I just don't understand, Pacey. She loves you."

_She'll get over it_, was the first thought that went through his mind, but he kept it to himself. Evidently, the story of Andie walking in on he and Abby had been slightly stretched as it made it's way through the school. It wasn't surprising, really. The small-town gossip mill relished working overtime.

"Y'know... You can make up your own story, or you can believe what you hear in the halls, or whatever you want; but until you're ready to listen to me without this judgmental bull, I'm not going to waste my breath." He closed his locker with a gentle click and walked a few feet before stopping and turning back. "Dawson? Think about this for a minute... we've been friends for most of our lives, aren't friends supposed to support each other?"

Pacey turned and continued through the hall and out of the school looking dead forward. he didn't care to see who had been around for this little episode, enough of his life had been made public today. Stepping out of the building he inhaled the fresh air deeply and sighed.

Sitting on the stairs, he brought his hands to his temples and tried to rub away what was progressively turning into a blinding headache. Avoiding Andie hadn't merely been a bad idea, it had clearly been one of the stupidest things he could have done. He had only succeeded in making things worse for both of them. He knew that now, but all of this was trial and error, and would probably always be. There wasn't any "Breaking up for Dummies" book he could refer to when things got too complicated.

Thinking about Dawson got him even more pissed. Here was a guy who was supposed to be his best friend, and he was being so insensitive and unsupportive, without having the whole story. Didn't he realize that this wasn't easy for him either? Dumping Andie had been difficult enough, and just when he's thought that the fates had him slated for loneliness and misery, they handed him Abby. It wasn't the most apparent or natural pairing, but somehow they really fit together.

He should have been able to talk about this with Dawson. He had expected to, wanted to, couldn't wait to; but Dawson had his own ideas about what everyone's life was supposed to be like. Clearly, he'd written the script, and the great director was throwing a tantrum when Pacey wasn't aware of his lines.

* * *

She'd seen them arguing, even heard a few lines back and forth, but she didn't need to have heard anything to know that it had everything to do with her. Pacey's friends all detested her, and they had every right to, it wasn't as if she'd done anything to deserve their friendship. Just the opposite, she had actively earned their bad will towards her.

Then again, Pacey had been able to get past all of the nasty things that she had done to him and everyone else, and it wasn't simply because he was attracted to her. It was more than that, way more than that. It had to be, otherwise her internal asshole meter would have kicked in and she wouldn't have let him get this close to her, especially not so soon.

"You must just love this..."

Joey Potter stood over Abby, her voice edged with biting sarcasm and her hands on her hips. Her lips were curled with distaste.

"You're wrong. I'm not enjoying this in the slightest." Abby brought her eyes submissively up to Joey's and locked them there. It was her silent way of trying to relay that she was being genuine, without backing down.

"I don't buy it for a second," Joey said, pursing her lips and raising an eyebrow to her. "I don't know what your motivations are here, but I'd hazard a guess that they aren't completely pure."

"Are you almost finished?"

"Quite." She strode away, leaving Abby sitting alone at a table behind the school. Everything was turning into a disaster, just as they were coming into place.

She hadn't really expected Joey to concern herself with any of this, and it caught her strangely. Sure, she was currently Andie's brother's girlfriend, and she and Pacey and Dawson were longtime friends and all that, but it seemed out of character for her to involve herself in their business right now. What was it that made made all of this such a tremendous interest and an even bigger problem?

_"Where is he?"_ she thought to herself urgently. She had asked if he'd like her to walk with him to work, and he's wanted her to, but with all of the crap that had gone on between he and his friends there was a decent chance that he'd changed his mind. Maybe she wasn't worth the tension she was causing, maybe he'd decided that he was better off without her. Friends were infinitely more important than relationships, and since Abby had neither before, why should it matter now if she was back in the same boat? She would eventually forget what it had been like to have someone close to her for a split second, and she would go back to being exactly who she'd been two days earlier. A little more bitter, but no worse for the wear.

The only kink was that she liked him. She liked him more that she'd ever thought possible, more than she'd ever wanted to allow herself.

She began to walk around the side of the school. He was there, sitting on the front stairs and staring off into space, far enough away that she couldn't get a read on his expression. She didn't want to seem clingy or too needy, or for him to feel like she was invading his space; so she walked straight past him. She pretended that she hadn't seen him, that she wasn't even looking. Ever the triumphant actress.

From the corner of her eye she saw his eyes turn to her, watching her slow gait. His mouth curled into a minute, unsure smile. He picked up his bag and came towards her.

"Ab? Hey... I thought we were walking into town together?"

Abby couldn't help but smile at him, her eyes twinkling. Her bout of self-deprecation had obviously been for naught, at least she hoped that it had.

"Come on... you're gonna be late."

Pacey put his arm around her shoulder and they began to walk slowly in the direction of the video store where he worked.

They were quieter than usual as they went on their way. What usual was, neither of them had any clue, but this wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Neither of them felt a way about it, they were both tired and didn't feel the need to go over what they both knew were problems. In the end, they would have to work it out, Pacey had the most immediate and visible difficulties to work out, but Abby had a whole lot of proving to do is she wanted to earn any of their respect. She would need it, if she and Pacey were going to attempt any sort of a public relationship. Nothing can live in a vacuum.

In Pacey's ideal utopia, no one was giving him any grief over who he wanted to be with and who he didn't. In this alternative world, he didn't have to explain to anyone why he was attracted to Abby or why he starting to really fall for her. In this perfect universe, everything was just easy. In general.

They stopped in front of Screenplay and Pacey checked his watch, still a few minutes before he'd have to don the red vest and go through the motions at work. The sole saving grace was that he didn't have to work beside Dawson tonight. He had the store to himself and could just go it on auto-pilot.

He faced her and peered down into her upturned eyes feeling a rush. It happened every time.

"Some day, huh?" It was the only thing he could think of to say.

Her full lips parted and she opened her mouth to speak, knowing full well that she really didn't have anything. She wanted to reassure him the same way that he did her, to tell him that they had a good chance of making it through all the muck. But, she didn't want to bring it up. Instead, she nodded at him and took a step closer, pulling him closer with one hand on his elbow.

"Tomorrow will be better," she said, stretching up on her tip-toes and landing a soft kiss on his lips. She wiped away left-behind-lipstick with her thumb and let her hand linger on his face for a moment as she dropped back onto her heels.

"Yeah... I'm sure it will be. I'm going to go and talk to her tonight after work, like I should have done before." His eyes looked pained at the thought of that conversation and she winced slightly for him.

"Call me if you want to talk, okay?"

"I'll call you either way," he said, stooping down to kiss her again. When their lips joined and he felt the silk of her hair, it was like the entire planet stopped action and they were the only creatures alive. Their tongues wrestled and he tightened his grip on her hair, as she crushed her body against his. She pulled back slowly, inching out of his arms.

"I'll speak to you later..." she said, looking up at him.

"Okay... Later." He breathed at her, his heart pounding in his chest. He turned to enter the store and she watched him walk inside and across the carpet towards the counter. The way his body moved when he walked made her horny. It was ridiculous and she laughed to herself. He brought his eyes back to hers and she waved at him before taking off towards the marina.

* * *

Pacey stood at the end of the walkway to Andie's house, enshrouded in the darkness of the street. The store had been incredibly slow, so he'd phoned Mr. Olson and closed almost two hours early. There was more than enough time to speak with Andie and still make it home at the regular hour. He had no doubt that his father would be waiting, timing him to make sure that he kept to his punishment and he had no intention of sticking around Andie's any longer than he really had to.

He stared at the huge house and up at Andie's bright window almost wishing that its lights were off and he could extend this another day. Fat chance. Mustering up every ounce of courage he had in him, he walked quickly to the door and knocked before allowing himself any time to change his mind.

Jack McPhee appeared in the front window, pulling the curtain aside to see who was at the door. He made a face, dropping the heavy fabric and coming to the door where he opened it and stepped outside.

"What are you doing here, Pacey?"

"I need to talk to her, Jack. Can I please come inside?" His voice was soft, without a hint of anger or pressure.

"Don't you think you've done enough, man? She's been a wreck since you talked to her the last time, you here to make it worse?"

Jack stood blocking his way into the house, a stern look on his face. Pacey completely understood his anger. Theirs was a fragile household, held together by the finest of threads, the strength of which came almost entirely from Jack. With their father missing in action, Jack had stepped up and become the man of the house. Pacey was a threat to whatever weak stability they had.

"It's alright. Let him in," Andie said in monotone from inside.

Jack opened the door hesitantly and looked up at Andie on the stairs. She nodded and he stepped aside letting Pacey pass, closing the door behind him and escaping into the kitchen.

She looked like hell. There had obviously been too many tears, her eyes were swollen and red, her complexion splotched and streaked with mascara. Pacey felt like shit. If he'd had any idea what he was going to say to her, it was gone now. There was nothing beyond an apology, that she doubtfully would accept, in his mind or on his lips. The truth. That was all he could offer her and hope that perhaps, eventually, they could become friends again. Were they ever friends before? Not really. He hoped, still, that maybe they could at least find a level ground.

Walking down the stairs, she passed him and led him into the den, sitting in an overstuffed chair that faced the sofa, and motioning for him to sit. The room dynamic was beyond cold, and it made him even more nervous to talk to her. Andie pulled some hair from her face and crossed her arms protectively over her chest, her jaws were clenched as she held back her tears.

"What, Pacey? You must have come to say something, so say it."

He expected her anger.

"Awww, Andie... we both know that we weren't working and I'm so sorry that it has to be this way. I never meant for things to be like this." He looked deeply into her eyes, trying desperately to say all of the things that he wanted to, but couldn't find the words for.

"We could have made it work, if you wanted to. You gave up. We're meant to be, can't you see that." She probably really believed that, but Pacey knew there was nothing for them. He would have never been in love with her. Looking into her eyes, there wasn't any attraction left.

"No. I'm not who you want me to be, and I never will be. I didn't want to feel like I had to live up to your standards. I want to be comfortable as myself." There. He'd said it to her finally, and it was like a weight lifted off of his back. "Maybe somewhere down the line you'll be able to forgive me because you'll understand, and maybe we can even become friends. I do care about you, Andie. we're just not right for a relationship."

"Is that why you're still lying to me?"

"I've never lied to you Andie, ever." That was the truth. He was guilty of avoiding her and causing more problems than he should have, but had never lied to her.

"Abby."

He should have seen it coming. He knew that she would believe that none of this could be her own fault, and that all of this was because of Abby, but it blind-sided him none the less.

"I don't want to get into this, but you and I were over long before Abby, long before we broke up, even. She has nothing to do with us."

"Right. It's just coincidence that you dump me and less than twenty-four hours later you're with her, doing god only knows what. You must think I'm a complete idiot." She got up and walked around the room, turning her back to him.

"It is a coincidence, and really bad timing, I realize. But I don't think you're an idiot. I just don't want you to think I've been wrong to you, because I haven't." There wasn't much else for him to say. There was no reason to expect that she would feel any better, it was going to take time before the atmosphere was easy between them. He'd said his peace and even if she didn't, he felt better about it. She walked out of the room silently and he took his leave. He didn't look back at her house as he walked out and away.

* * *

She wished that she could see him. Things felt so much better to her when they were alone together. It was as if they had so little in common with the rest of the world that when they got together, everything was even. But when she was alone with herself all she could do was doubt their relationship. He'd given her no reasons to feel this way, she just did.

She picked up the phone in her bedroom on the first ring. It was late, long after 11 o'clock. For all intents and purposes, she should have already been asleep. She wasn't necessarily waiting up for his phone call, but she certainly was up.

"Can you sneak out?"

"What?"

"Can you get out of your house?"

"Pacey? Is everything alright? You don't sound normal."

"I'm okay, really. I just can't sleep, and I want to see you. Will you come and meet me?"

"Are you sure you want to do this, won't you get in more trouble?" She was worried about him, his father seemed like a real bastard. Something must be up, if he wanted to risk going at it with him again while he was already in so much trouble.

"He'll never know the difference. They went to bed a couple of hours ago. So you'll meet me?"

"Absolutely. I was just lying here thinking about you anyway... might as well see you face to face," she giggled softly.

"You were thinking about me? Was I good?" She imagined the evil grin that he probably had on his face.

She was glad that he couldn't see her blushing on the other end of the phone. "Pacey! You're incorrigible. Where do you want to meet?"

"What about the baseball diamond, by the home team dugout? That's about halfway from your house to mine..."

"Okay. I'll see you there in, like, fifteen minutes..." She looked around her room for something to throw on.

"See you then. Be careful."

"You be careful, too." They hung up the phone and she grabbed a pair of black drawstring pants and a sweatshirt from her closet. He would have to deal with seeing her without makeup and her hair in small pigtails, it could be the test. If he still wanted her straight out of bed, then it was all good.

* * *

He got to the ballpark within a few minutes, he'd already been dressed and all he had to do was climb out his window and down the trellis into the backyard. He had snuck out thousands of times, whenever he was angry with his father and he wanted to get out of the house. The process, by now, was second nature and almost silent. He sat on the fence in front of the dugout and waited for her to arrive.

She walked up minutes later, looking around for him and finding him exactly where he said she would.

When she came up on him, he pulled her to him almost immediately, enveloping her in his arms and kissing her fervently. He had been lying in bed earlier and all he could think about was her in his arms, holding her against his chest, his lips kissing her over and over until they both suffocated. When he finally let her go, she pulled him back to her.

They walked down into the dugout and sat down next to each other.

"So you got out easily?" he said, taking her hand into his and looking at her fingers, tracing their outlines with his.

"Uh huh. I walked right out the front door, my mom always takes sleeping pills before bed. She's an insomniac."

He couldn't keep his hands off of her. His fingers traced her face and he brought his hands to her hair, tweaking her pigtails and laughing.

"Your hair looks so cute like this. You look adorable."

She smiled at him and twisted her arms around his neck, climbing onto his lap. They kissed, their tongues lapping at each other and his hands all over her back. Pacey could feel that she wasn't wearing a bra under that sweatshirt and he imagined his hands on her bare skin. The idea of touching her made his mind spin. His hands went under her shirt and felt the cool skin of her back under his palms. She wriggled in his lap and arched at him in pleasure, which he took as an invitation to move his hands to her sides. He felt her skin rise in goosebumps as he moved his hands up her sides, slowly inching towards her breasts.

He thought that she might stop him, they'd moved so tentatively up to now and he didn't want her to feel like he was going too fast for her, but she wasn't stopping him at all. She kept her lips plastered to his and her hands scratched lightly at his back and neck. His thumbs grazed the undersides of her breasts and she let out a small moan, he couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to feel her in his hands, her soft skin tensing beneath his fingers.

His hands felt so good on her, he moved them around to her breasts, touching them lightly with his fingertips. She felt her nipples harden beneath him and she pressed herself closer, biting at his lips and moving to lick at his earlobe and throat. The wind whistled through the ballpark and she twisted her head to look around her, anxious that they would be seen, but there was no one around. She relaxed again and looked at his face in the moonlight. 

"What?" he said, looking into her eyes and smiling. His hands didn't move from under her shirt, he moved his fingers in slow circles, kneading her breasts softly and rolling her nipples between his fingers. She said nothing and leaned in to kiss him again.

She could feel him pressing against her between her legs, where she sat on his lap. There wasn't much between them besides a few layers of cotton fleece, she hadn't even taken the time to put on panties when she'd thrown on her pants. She wondered if he knew. She didn't really know what to do about it though, she wasn't really ready to go that far with him. She trusted that he wouldn't force the issue, he seemed to have an intuition as to what she was thinking. It was one of the things that was uncanny about their relationship already.

She moved off of him, but didn't go far, leaning her back against the wall and pulling him towards her again. His hands went up to her face and he cupped it gently, laying small kisses all over her lips and eyelids. _She's so damn beautiful_, he thought to himself. He backed off her slowly, feeling his hard-on strain against his boxers and trying to regain a bit of composure.

"How about I walk you home?" he said, smoothing her shirt with his hand and kissing her cheek.

"I'd really like that, Pacey."

He stood and held his hand out to her. She took it and rose with him as he pulled her into a giant hug. There was nothing to feel but safe in his arms. She felt his tongue lick at her earlobe before he whispered to her.

"Thanks for coming out tonight..."

The hair on her arms came up and she felt a chill run down her spine when he breathed in her ear. She turned her face and kissed him softly on the lips.

"Thanks for making me..." she said into his parted lips.

They walked hand in hand from the baseball field towards her house, stopping more than a few times to kiss and stare into each other's eyes. When they arrived, he put his hand on her cheek and bent to kiss her one more time before she went inside. He wanted to keep something with him when he went to bed, the time that they spent together was so special.

She watched as he walked from her house and into the darkness of the night, the taste of his lips still on hers.

* * *

* * *

To be continued... 

   [1]: mailto:pilar@chickmail.com



	6. What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day

_Disclaimer:_It still stands form all of the other parts and whatnot...

_Feedback:_ Please, please, please write me... I hate to beg, but this is what it's come down to. I want your feedback and I want it now! Please drop me a line at[ pilar@chickmail.com][1]. Thanks!

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What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day  
by Pilar

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Part Six  
  


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* * *

Abby lay in bed, the morning sun streaming over her like a golden curtain and her body tingling as she remembered his hands on her skin. Pacey had been everything she had never imagined in a man, and everything that in her heart she had hoped. He had listened to her body's reactions to him, knowing precisely when she might think they had gone too far. He had stopped. There had been no pressure and no force, he'd just stopped. And he'd walked her home holding her hand.

She smiled to herself, letting her hands drift precautiously along her ribs. She moved them over her taut skin, across the same places that he had touched the night before, and some that he hadn't.

* * *

"Pacey!!! Get your lazy ass out of bed and downstairs! **Now!**"

Pacey's eyes opened with a start, prematurely awakened from an intensely pleasant dream. His father's angry voice sliced through his sleep like a sickle.

_"Asshole..."_ he thought to himself wearily, tumbling out of bed and pulling on a pair of worn shorts and a tank top.

Walking down to the foyer, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and found his father at the foot of the stairs.

"Well, good morning, sunshine. I've got a long list of shit for you to do today, should keep you from fucking around all day long," he spat at his son.

"Thank you, Sir," Pacey returned flatly. "If it's all right, I'll have some breakfast first, then get started straight away."

Pacey's father looked over his head when he spoke, hardly ever looking him in the eyes.

"Fine," he said, dropping the list at Pacey's feet and receding into his study.

Most of the time, the only way to deal with his father was to go along with him. Rather than get him more angry by exhibiting defiance, he just played along with the Chief's game. It seemed that nothing would ever get Pacey in his father's good graces, so he swallowed it and did what his father wanted, hoping that eventually his grounding would wear off and he could go back to simply being ignored. It was a far better place to be.

He stepped through the swinging door and into the kitchen, grabbing a couple of frozen breakfast things and shoving them into the toaster. This day was really not going to turn out as he had been hoping.

Sipping on a glass of juice, he sat at the kitchen table and procrastinated. His mind wandered to thoughts of Abby, their burgeoning relationship and their clandestine rendezvous of the previous night. It had been so nice sneaking out of his house to see her, and she'd looked so sexy straight out of bed. Her face scrubbed clean, hair in teeny ponytails, dressed practically in pajamas. _Damn._ He shook his head to push the image from his mind and picked at his father's note, reviewing the list. The bastard wasn't kidding, it would take all day to get the work done, a myriad of fun filled activities.

"_Gotta love Saturday,_" he thought, crinkling his nose in annoyance.

* * *

Deep in fantasy, Abby was unaware of everything around her. The house could burst into flames and she probably wouldn't notice, her only thoughts on herself and Pacey, and the way he had made her feel. Is it possible to fall in love so quickly? It didn't seems like a very smart idea. Love should come slowly, it should grow and be nourished. Two and a half days in, and Abby was falling hard, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it except hope that she wasn't completely alone.

She heard a phone ringing somewhere in the distance, realizing on the third or forth ring that it was the one on her bed stand. Somewhat embarrassed, she reached for it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Abby."

"Jennifer Lindley, to what do I owe this tremendous pleasure?"

This was a bit of a shocker. After the past few weeks, she hadn't expected Jen would ever speak to her again. Their last meeting had been disastrous, ending with Abby's exile from the Leery house.

"Honestly, Abby, I have no idea why I'm even near speaking to you, but my curiosity has truly gotten the best of me, so here I am. Are you going to start talking, or do I have to drag it out of you?"

"I think you're going to have to, since I have no idea what you're talking about. Is a hint completely out of the question?"

"Oh, come off it. I know you want to talk about it, so just spill. If I can be big enough to put aside all of your bullshit, the least you can do is make it easy on me."

One thing that Abby always liked about Jen was that she always called Abby out, and never seemed to pull her punches.

"Jen... I don't even know what to say, it's so... _different_, it's great." Her face flushed fifteen shades of purple and she giggled like a third grader.

"So? How did this happen? How long has it been going on?"

"Just a couple of days, really. You know that day that I wasn't in school? We spent the day together. He's so different than I'd thought... we just kinda hit it off."

"Pacey's a good guy, but I was really surprised that he'd break it off with Andie. You had nothing to do with that?"

She knew that it had to be coming, it was inevitable. Everyone was going to think that they'd hooked up while Pacey was still with Andie, there was no way around it.

"Honestly, Jen. I swear. I didn't even really speak to him beyond the odd insult before the day that they broke up."

"But you spent the whole next day together? I'm having a hard time believing that's coincidence. Abby, I _know_ you."

"No, really... I saw him the night before by the docks. We started talking and it was weird, we just kinda found a vibe together. Then he walked me home."

"And you went in for the kill," Jen said pointedly.

"It wasn't like that at all... it was just a series of good timing, I saw him the next morning on the way to school and we decided to cut together. We get along really well when I'm not hurling obnoxious comments in his direction."

This was probably the case with most of Capeside, Abby was beginning to realize. Maybe if she could learn to just ease up every now and again, she might be able to sustain more than one half-friendship. She might even be able to have multiple relationships with actual human beings and not be looked at like this complete bitch. Maybe it was worth it.

"Abby Morgan and Pacey Witter... I'm not sure the world is ready for this," she paused and laughed snidely, "I'm not sure I am..."

"Jen, to be honest, I'm not sure that I am either," she sighed.

"So? Have you eaten yet? You want to meet for brunch at the Café, or do you have hot plans with your new _ boyfriend_?" Jen asked in a sing-song voice.

"He's grounded, actually..." she responded somewhat sadly. "Sure, I'll meet you for brunch. How's an hour, that enough time?"

"Grounded? Why?"

"Oh, I'll explain later... an hour at the Café, 'kay?"

"I'll see you there."

She was about to hang up, but felt she needed to say something. "Oh, and Jen, I _am_ sorry..." She needed to at least acknowledge her misbehavior at some point. No matter how obnoxious Abby had been to her, through all of her chubby comments and pointed slut digs, Jen seemed to shake it off and sort of remain her friend. Maybe she knew that Abby really never meant them, at least not truly to be hurtful. She just didn't know what else to say sometimes.

"Whatever, Abby. I'll see you in an hour."

"Okay, bye."

Abby hung up the telephone and leaned back into her pillows. If she could repair her friendship with Jen on a less selfish level, and figure out what was going on with Pacey, then she might actually have something. Relationships to be proud of, it would be a first.

* * *

Pacey took a pull off a can of Pepsi and changed the CD in his box, Dave Matthews came blaring over the sound of the still-running mower. Only a few hours in, and he had succeeded in crossing off the most challenging of his tasks. Mowing the front lawn was easily his least favorite and the mid-day heat wasn't helping his motivation. Not even one-third complete and and his wifebeater was soaked through.

The appearance of Abby rounding the corner brought the first smile to his face that he'd experienced all day. She wore a loose-fitting sundress and her hair up in the same pigtails he'd seen the night before. Although concealed by dark glasses, he could make out a solicitous look in her eyes. Nearing him, she slid an arm around his waist.

"Oooooo, Mister Witter, is it manual labor day? Your blue collar ways are just pushing my hormones over the edge," she said in a mock Southern accent and moved in close enough to breath in his heady scent.

He pulled her tighter against him, "You, my dear, are a humongous snob."

She leaned up and kissed him delicately. "Ick... You're getting me all sweaty!"

"I'm so glad that I have that effect on you." He wrapped his arms around her and licked at her lips before slipping his tongue between her teeth. Kissing her was beginning to become something like food to him, he was starting to need it to survive. Plus, she tasted so damn good. "Hey, if I get all this shit I have to do today finished, how about I take you to a movie tonight?"

"Do you really think you can get out? What about your Dad?"

"Eh... it's Saturday night, he'll be too busy lording over the DUI checkpoints to even think about me and my Mom will be okay with it. So, you'll let me take you out?"

Abby blushed, making Pacey smile. He loved the way that she reacted to him, it tended to send him reeling. Something he had never felt before.

"A proper date? How could I possibly refuse?"

"You can't. I'll pick you up at eight thirty, okay?"

"Mmmm... sounds terrific," she said reaching up on her tip-toes to kiss him again. They stood plastered to each other making out on the half-shorn lawn until the gruff voice of John Witter interrupted them with a clearing of his throat.

"Pacey. Get your ass back to work, my lawn ain't a damn sex show!"

Pacey turned towards his father and nodded his head. Abby ducked out from under his arm and backed away modestly. He reached out his hand, catching her by the elbow.

"Sorry about that, he can be a real prick. So, I'll see you at eight thirty?" He stepped closer to her and landed a kiss on her forehead.

"Yup. See you then," she smiled.

As she turned to walk towards town, Pacey gave her a light slap on the ass. She looked back at him over her shoulder, smirking and rolling her eyes. He watched her body, as she made her way down the street, lost in lascivious fantasies. Halfway down the block, she turned back to him and waved flirtatiously. He put his hand up in response before returning to his task.

* * *

"Jen, I don't even know what to say, honestly. I don't."

They sat at an outside table drinking foamy cappuccinos and waiting for their food.

"Imagine _you_ at a loss for words. I don't even recognize you. Who are you and what have you done with Abby?"

They both laughed and Abby leaned back in her chair, sipping on her drink.

"It's crazy, huh?", she paused. "Jen, do you think I'm just fooling myself here, thinking that this could even work out?"

"I don't know... You've witnessed a couple of my man mishaps recently, I'm really not the best person to ask for relationship advice, y'know. I tend to have a pretty jaded attitude towards them right now. If you asked me a couple of weeks ago though, I might have said, 'if it feels good, go with it'. Does it feel good?"

Abby smiled, taking in a deep breath, "Yeah... it feels great."

"Then just go with it, but keep your eyes open, y'know?"

* * *

"Abby, how many outfits are you planning on trying on before you decide? It's almost eight now."

Abby's mother sat on the corner of her bed watching her daughter attempt to get ready, clothes littered most of the floor. She began picking up after her, laying the articles of clothes flat on the bed.

"What do you think of this, Mom?" Abby twirled in the center of the room wearing a pair of skinny black pants and a long tube; topping it off, she pulled on a black shrug.

"You look gorgeous, honey. Now finish up before he gets here, I'll be downstairs. You shouldn't keep him waiting when he gets here or I'll be forced to start interrogating." Abby raised an eyebrow at her snidely and made a face. She kissed Abby on the top of her head, before heading out the door and down to the living room.

She sat at her mirror and put the finishing touches on her makeup, staring at herself for a long time. For so long, she had looked at herself negatively, always wondering why anyone would want her, what they could possibly see in her. Little by little, she was starting to see it herself. The doorbell rang and she took one last look in the full-length.

"Abby," her mother called, "Pacey's here..."

Abby appeared at the top of the stairs like a debutante, smiling down at him. He tipped his head to her and beamed.

"Hey..." He watched her every move as she descended the stairs toward him, her platforms clicking on the bare wood.

"Hey, yourself..."

Ms. Morgan looked at the two of them together and smiled. "Pacey, what movie are you two going to see tonight?"

Pacey winked at Abby before turning back to answer her mother's question. He immediately shifted into hyper polite mode and switched on the charm.

"To be honest, Ms. Morgan, I'm not even sure what's playing. I figured that I'd let Abby decide when we got there." he smiled broadly at her, "Really, it's just a pale excuse to spend more time with your daughter, but you knew that, didn't you?"

Abby's mother laughed and put a hand on Pacey's shoulder, looking to the flushed face of her daughter. "Well then, I'll let you kids get going. Abby, not too late, okay?"

She held the door open for them and Abby pecked her on the cheek as they walked outside.

"Goodnight, Ms. Morgan."

The door shut softly behind them.

"You're a piece of work. You know that?"

"We aim to please." He stopped her as they turned onto the sidewalk and kissed her gently, something he'd wanted to do since she emerged at the top of the stairs. "I hope that you don't mind walking into town, I didn't even want to risk taking the truck tonight."

"Please. You know I don't mind."

He took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. They walked slowly into town towards the Rialto.

Partly through the film, Abby felt his hand on her thigh, the heat of his touch sending shivers up her spine. He leaned in close and whispered into her ear.

"Do you wanna get a snack or something after this?"

His breath was hot on her ears and his hushed voice brought goosebumps to her arms. Turning her face to answer, he caught her mouth with his and bit tenderly at her lower lip.

"Mmmm... Pacey... the movie..."

"What movie? I can't concentrate on anything else when I'm around you."

Her heart pirouetted in her chest. "Who writes your lines, are they scripted well in advance?" She tipped her head back as he attempted another kiss. It landed on her neck, rather than her lips.

"Hey, I ad-libbed that one... give me _some_ credit here."

Bit by bit, they were learning each other and becoming more comfortable with their reactions. What pushed the other's buttons, what the tiny tonal changes in their voices meant, what gave them the chills. Pacey could tell when she'd responded to him; his touch, his words. Abby knew how to turn him on. Pacey knew how deep he was beginning to fall for her.

Credits. They pulled apart from their tangled embrace, Pacey ran his thumb along her mouth wiping away a bit of smeared lipstick.

"What do you want to do?" He asked as they exited the theatre.

"You mentioned something about a snack earlier..." Neither of them were ready to end their time together and it was still relatively early in the evening. She raised an eyebrow at him as they made their way across main street.

"Are you hungry?" His voice had a tinge of something to it.

"It depends on what you mean by hungry. What _do_ you mean by hungry?"

Mocking some pathetic excuse for a dance move, Pacey twirled around in front of her shaking his ass and crooning, _"I'm hungry like the wooooooolf"_. Abby laughed at the ridiculous spectacle as he swung her around him and ducked under her arm. There was a chance he could be dancing, but she really couldn't be sure.

"You are a complete freak!" she guffawed, pushing at him playfully.

They were nearing The Icehouse, one of only a couple of places that would still be serving at eleven o'clock. Pacey looked over at the counter to see who was working and was relieved by the site of Bessie filling a row of glasses and placing them on a tray. He motioned at the restaurant to Abby.

"Shall we?"

"Ugh... _more drama?_ Why bother?"

"No drama, open restaurant. Come on." He tugged at her arm like a toddler until she acquiesced and they walked inside. Sitting at a table in the corner, Pacey pulled his chair close to hers. "This is a small town and I'm not going to avoid people and places when we're together, Abby. If my friends can't accept our relationship, then they're not really my friends."

He said it lightly, but Abby knew that this couldn't have been an easy thing for him to decide. Sometimes it felt like they spent a little too much time dwelling on the negativity surrounding what was going on between them, and sometimes it felt as if they pretended that nothing else existed beyond the two of them when they were together. She couldn't help but hear him use the word relationship and get excited.

"We're in a relationship?" She caught him off guard and a bit confused.

"Uhhh... well... Unless you-- um... I mean-- well, I thought we had _something_?" He seemed a bit embarrassed that she'd reiterated. She hadn't meant to sound like she was disagreeing, she simply hadn't thought that he felt that way about her yet. Bringing her chair closer to his, until she practically sat in his lap, she whispered into his ear.

"There's nobody else that I'd rather spend time with, Pacey. I'd love to be in a relationship with you..." The words were awkward, but the sentiment came across just fine. It finally had a name.

She kissed his cheek and felt him turn his face under her lips until he'd caught them under his again. Her eyes closed and she felt his tongue playing along her parted teeth. They remained close, kissing and speaking in hushed tones, until Bessie interrupted them with a clearing of her throat. This seemed to be a trend for them lately.

"Hi Pacey, what can I get for you guys," she said still laughing at them.

"Bessie... hey..." Pacey tried to play it off as if he wasn't embarrassed, but the blush in his cheeks betrayed him. "I'll have a coke and some fries. Abby?"

"Just a large root beer, please."

"Great. I'll be right back with your sodas," she said to them, "Joey? Throw in an order of fries..." she added, louder.

_Shit._ When he hadn't seen her in the front, he'd assumed that Bessie was pretty much on her own. It wasn't Joey that he really wanted to avoid, mainly Jack, he didn't think it right that he flaunt his thing with Abby in front of Andie's brother. He had meant what he'd said to her, but he also wanted to avoid anymore conflict, just for one damn night.

Abby must have seen something in his expression change. As soon as Bessie was out of earshot, she spoke.

"Change your mind?" There was an icy edge to her voice that bit through him.

"Please, Abby. Stop it. Don't do this to me again, you know that I've been completely honest with you since we started hanging out, don't take every minute expression as some sort of betrayal."

"It's hard not to. When you heard Joey's name just now, you got this look on your face that I'm reading as _'Flee!'_ What am I supposed to think?"

"That all I want to do is spend one, perfect, uninterrupted evening with you. Without getting any grief, y'know? I know this is hard on you too, did you ever stop to think I might be thinking of you?"

He took her hands into his and looking into her eyes, watched as her glare softened.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, kissing him again. He responded with more passion and they remained locked together until they heard Bessie approach with their drinks.

"Um, how about you kids get a room, all right?"

Pacey leaned back in his chair, grinning. "Sorry, Bessie."

She walked back to the kitchen. Off to the side, Joey stood paying no attention to them whatsoever. Pacey noticed how much thought she seemed to be putting into looking occupied by nothing. The bell at the kitchen window rang and she responded to it, picking up the plate of fries and walking towards them. Pacey smiled and waved at her.

"Hey, Jo. How's it hangin'?"

Abby smiled at her, trying desperately look as if it wasn't forced.

"Long night, we've been in the weeds since seven," Joey picked a fry off their plate. She had the same uncomfortable expression on her face as Abby; as if they had something to say, but were choking it back.

Pacey pointed at the chair across from them, "Take a load off..."

"Nah... I can't, gotta get back to work," she clenched her jaw slightly and gave an askew smile, "Good to see you, Abby." There was no sarcastic bite, surprisingly. She made her way back to the counter quickly, busying herself with a row of salt shakers.

"See, no drama" Pacey put am arm around Abby's shoulder and fed her a fry covered in dripping ketchup. She smirked at him and rolled her eyes, falling into a small smile. It was difficult to remain even slightly irked at him for too long, she settled into the crook of his arm and sipped off her drink.

"Not too bad for a first date, Mister Witter..."

"Like I said, baby, we aim to please," he said handing her that stellar smile. She relaxed into his arms and they ate.

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To be continued...

   [1]: mailto:pilar@chickmail.com



	7. What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day

_Disclaimer:_It still stands form all of the other parts and whatnot...

_Feedback:_ Please, please, please write me... I hate to beg, but this is what it's come down to. I want your feedback and I want it now! Please drop me a line at[ pilar@chickmail.com][1]. Thanks!

_Author's Note:_ I realize that it has been months since I've put an installment of this story out, and I'll try my damnedest to get another out sooner than last time. But you know how damn slow I am, I just gotta write them as they come... Do you hate me?

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Part Seven

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Abby tugged at the hem of her skirt before walking into Capeside High, things seemed to be looking up for her and everything around her for a change. Who knew when a time like this might come around again. She smoothed her hair back and pulled open the door.

There was a bustle of student body filling the halls. The sort that usually put her on edge, but not this time-- not anymore. She felt like a woman with purpose, a woman who cared not for the bullshit of others. A woman with a boyfriend, for the first time in ages. She could barely contain herself.

She felt like whistling or skipping or--

"Hey there, beautiful." A strong arm encircled her waist and pulled her back against his firm stomach tipping her head back and lighting his lips to hers. She responded in kind, letting her tongue touch the tip of his gently and breathing into his lungs.

"Mmmm... I missed you this morning."

They had taken to meeting before school and walking together quietly, sometimes slipping between trees where he would press her back against the ridged bark and take her mouth into his. They held hands and she looked up into his hazel green eyes and melted. Whatever they had found in each other was so far unparalleled.

"My father drove. He's getting to be a real pain in the ass, y'know? But I think that my mom's finally gotten him to lift my grounding. So maybe we can actually spend some real time together..." He raised his eyebrows at her in that way that he knew taunted her. They were still locked in a loose embrace, her hip pushed between his legs, her back arched against him.

"That would be nice, Pacey..."

"Yeah... Nice..."

"Hey there, lover boy... Think you can pass that my way when you're through?" Pacey's head flew around to the offending voice. Chris Wolfe, he should have fucking known.

"Wolfe, you so truly had better not have been talking to me." Pacey felt his nostrils flare and his hands ball to fists as he met Chris' smiling face. He put himself between him and Abby and took a stern step towards him.

"Hey... lighten up, Witter. I just wanted to take your new _girlfriend_ for a test drive. No harm intended. It's all right if you're not down to share..."

Pacey was more than livid. The blood drained from his face and he grit his teeth. Could a friggin' day go by without someone giving him grief or somehow torturing either of them. He expected it from the Andie camp, but for christ's sake, what was with everybody around here? Didn't they have their own lives to play around with? Why was Pacey and Abby even still a subject of conversation.

"You don't know when to stop, do you Chris? Please. Don't make me take another step towards you."

Chris loved a challenge, but it didn't seem as if he really wanted to pursue this one. He looked down at Abby and smirked. She looked back at him defiantly. There was no way that he was going to make her feel like this was her fault, that she owed him anything.

"Ehhh... take a Xanax or something, dude. I was just fooling around." He made a sound through his teeth and walked into class.

"You're my hero, you know that?" Abby turned Pacey back around to her and tippy-toed up to kiss him lightly. "Now, go to class before you get detention. Then, we'll never get to see each other."

Her sexy smile warmed his heart to a pre-boil. "I'll see you later, Morgan."

"Not if I see you first." She gave him a playful slap on the ass as he turned to walk down the hall.

* * * * *

He sat in class as he had everyday since he and Abby had really gotten together; daydreaming. Pacey knew that he probably looked like the biggest fool to hit the planet, but everything about her, about them, had been keeping him completely mesmerized for days. They had clicked like he had never thought he could with another person, they could talk about absolutely everything without boring each other to tears. She seemed interested by him and he with her, he could listen to her go on about a pair of shoes for hours without tuning her out. This had to be something special.

"Psst... psssst... Pace?"

He shook himself from his reverie to turn to Dawson.

"Yeah?"

"Can you cover my shift Friday night? Joey is finally willing to talk to me again, I want to rent some movies and have her over..."

"Can't do it, my man. This is the first weekend in three weeks that I'm not still grounded. I want to take Abby somewhere nice and spend some time together. All we've had time to do is sneak off for a minute or two before my father remembers I'm supposed to be home."

Dawson rolled his eyes. He still couldn't seem to fathom the idea of Pacey and Abby actually seeing each other. He had stopped being inquisitive and his anger was nowhere in sight, but Pacey knew that he still didn't really approve. But, it was none of his business and he knew that. He'd even apologized for his asinine behavior in the past.

"C'mon, Pacey... Please..."

"No can do." But Pacey remained hurt by Dawson's initial reactions. It was bad enough that anyone really associated with Andie was pissed at him, at least he could understand the hateful looks that he got from Jack. The fact that Dawson had given him so much shit, still pissed him off to no end. "Honestly, Dawson. I've got plans... Call Mr. Oleson, I'm sure that he could adjust the schedule for you. But, I just can't do it."

There really was no way that he was going to forego the evening that he was already planning for himself and Abby. A few weeks without any outside entertainment had allowed Pacey to save his paychecks and he had already made reservations at the romantic French place in town. He planned to take her there, dine her on escargot, oysters and whatever else made you horny, and then take her back to her house where her mom would be away for the weekend.

The thought made him grin evilly to himself, even though he knew in his heart that there was no way that he would ever take advantage of her. Sure, he had his lascivious plot in mind, but she would lead the way just like she always did. It didn't matter anyway, as long as he got to spend time with her. As long as he was given the chance to run his fingers over the soft skin of her cheeks and kiss her pink lips. Pacey shifted in his seat as he felt himself strain against the zipper of his jeans, willing himself down and laughing silently. He couldn't wait to tell her this one.

* * * * *

"You did not!" Abby covered her mouth and giggled uncontrollably, her face turning shades of pink Pacey had never seen before. He leaned in closer to her.

"I did," he whispered.

"Did what?" Jen Lindley sauntered to the lunch table and swung her jacket around the back of an empty chair.

"Nothing!" They laughed in unison.

"Oh, come on. You can't impress my experienced ears, I've heard it all. What did you do, Pacey?" Jen pulled out the chair and sat, tossing her book bag onto the chair beside her. "Pacey...," she urged.

Jen was the only one who had just slid into normalcy around them. Abby and she had been spending a lot of time together again, gabbing on the telephone and generally being girlfriends. It made Abby exceptionally happy to have a girlfriend to talk to, even though she still felt unnerved talking about how she felt about Pacey and where their relationship would eventually lead. But that had near nothing to do with Jen. Jen had only been supportive. And Abby had changed. She really had.

Sure, there were people who would probably still call her the demon seed of Capeside, and she still lived up to it with her acidic tongue and acerbic wit. But she'd learned how to direct herself and give the people that she actually cared about a break. That was the only way that she was going to retain any friendships, and she needed them. Girls need to hang out and bitch and moan and laugh and tell sex jokes. She'd forgotten all of that when concentrating on being Satan herself.

"Nothing, honestly..." Pacey smiled slyly at Abby and slid his hand under the table to squeeze Abby's thigh, letting his fingers linger on the folds of her skirt for just a moment longer.

"Hmmmm... whatever you say. Anyway, not to change the subject or anything, but did either of you guys hear about the party at Chris' this Friday night?"

"Ugh.. Chris." Abby made a face, remembering that morning's transgressions. "We'll pass."

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun. His parties are always good, even if he is a prick. Come, it'll be good for you guys to get out and socialize."

Pacey tilted back in his chair. "Actually, Jen. We're already going out Friday night." He laid his arm over the back of Abby's seat and tickled at her neck.

"We are?" She felt a flutter in her chest.

"Yup. I got big plans for you, darlin'. Big plans."

"I guess we have plans." Abby grinned at Jen and raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

* * * * *

Abby dug through her closet, as usual attempting to find the perfect thing to wear. Pacey had refused to clue her in on his plans only saying that he was planning on sporting a tie. That was a big move for him, so she supposed that wherever he was taking her, she should probably dress up. And now she foraged through the world of shoes on the bottom of her closet hurling things into the center of the room, the other silver mule nowhere to be found. It was as if anything that went in the closet was immediately swallowed whole.

Phew. It lay on top of a pile of old dresses that she'd never wear again all the way in the back.

Pacey would be there any minute and she still stood in front of the mirror doing her hair in nothing but a bra, panties and silver heels. She really needed to get her shit together. Then, of course, the doorbell rang. She glanced quickly at the clock on her bed table. He was fifteen minutes early. Abby lifted the sash of the window and stuck her face out, careful not to let him see anything but her head.

"I'll be right there, Pacey!" She called out into the night sky.

Pacey took a few steps back and looked up to her bedroom window. He looked so handsome in a dark grey suit, his shoes shining in the light of her porch and his hair neatly groomed. She couldn't help herself from locking her eyes on his and smiling gently as he grinned at her.

Her chosen dress lay as the only neat thing in her bedroom, flat on the edge of her bed. She kicked everything back into the bottom of her closet and pulled the frock over her head and skipped down the stairs to let him in.

"I'm not ready, you're way too early!" She giggled.

"You want me to drive around the block a few more times?" Pacey headed back towards the street and she reached out to grab him back.

"A few _more_ times?" She said, kissing him. His arms circled her back and she rubbed her face into his cleanly shaven cheek, breathing in the musk of his aftershave. "Mmmm... cologne and everything, Pacey... I'm impressed."

"All for you, m'dear." He swung her out in a mock lindy move, or at least the best one that he could muster up at such short notice. "All for you. Now get your ass back upstairs and let's get out of here, all right? I got wining and dining to do."

"Oooo... Wining _and_ dining. I'll hurry."

She bounded back up the stairs trying desperately not to trip over her own feet in the high, strappy heels. Last thing she needed was to go tumbling down the flight. She finished up the last of her makeup and ran the brush through her hair one more time. When she walked out to the top of the stairs, Pacey was waiting precisely where she left him, beaming up at her as she emerged.

"You look gorgeous. I meant to say that before..." She met him at the foot of the stairs. Pacey took her hand and led her out to his truck thinking to himself how lucky he was at that moment and what he could have possibly done to deserve this kind of luck.

He opened the passenger side door for her and boosted her up to the seat. "So, you want to know where we're going? Or shall I keep the surprise going?" He stepped up inside and twisted the key in the ignition, gunning the engine a few times for macho effect.

"We've made it this far, surprise me." Abby pushed at the radio buttons until something she liked came on. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? It was as if they had never been out together before. She felt her hands trembling slightly and a fire in her chest beneath her rib cage. Pacey caught her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"God... Nothing. Nothing at all... Everything is perfect."

"You're perfect." He reached out and stroked at her cheek, marveling at the softness of her skin. Man, he was turning into one of those lovesick puppy dogs that he usually made fun of. When did he become such a sensitive guy? He knew. He knew that it was the minute he'd first kissed her and felt the light weight of her tongue against his. She turned into his palm and kissed it, tracing his lifeline with her tongue. His legs turned to jelly.

Pulling up to _Entre Nous,_ he cut the engine and went to open her door for her, tossing the keys to the valet and receiving his ticket. The maitre d' met them at the door.

"Good Evening. Reservations, sir?"

"Yes, please. Under Witter..."

They were escorted to their table immediately and Pacey held out the chair for her, sliding it under her legs as she sat. He really was pulling out all the stops tonight, she noticed. They waited for a moment before the waiter came to bring them their menus.

"I can't believe you did this, Pacey. You amaze me sometimes." She held her palm out for him across the table.

He took her hand in his. "You ain't seen nothin' yet, babydoll." And she really hadn't. He'd gone over his plans a million times already. Pick her up, be gallant, restaurant, bottle of fancy wine, plate of exquisite food, a drive to the beach where they could walk in the sand and let the tide wash across their feet, then back to her house to cuddle for a while and what have you. What have you being the myriad things that he had tucked away in the back of his mind. There were roses in the back of his car that she hadn't seen yet.

The waiter came and he ordered a bottle of red wine in French that he'd memorized the name of after checking out the menu online. His accent was near perfect thanks to the phonetic dictionary he'd surfed to after. Yeah, he did want to impress her, and she seemed impressed. Pacey was just glad that he hadn't gotten carded, although he had Doug's old Driver's License in his wallet just in case. Her pink cheeks glowed when their eyes met again and again. When she excused herself to go to the ladies room, he stood and watched her go.

They ate slowly, laughing over rude people-watching commentary and tasting each other's food. When the check came, he didn't flinch. Maybe the weeks of grounding had been a godsend. He took her hand and led her outside while they waited for the car. Abby reached her arms around his neck and planted a firm kiss on his mouth. He tasted her lips say thank you as the valet drove up in front of them.

"So what have you got in store for me now, Romeo?"

"I thought we'd go back to your house for a while... I just want to be alone with you, we haven't had a moment of peace in too long." Pacey hoped that he wasn't scaring her off by being too forward, but they really hadn't spent any quality time together yet. Not since the fateful day they spent catching poison ivy in the grass clearing. Too much time had already passed.

When the valet tossed Pacey the keys to the truck, he opened the door for her and boosted her into the passenger seat, reaching into the back seat and handing her the long box that he had hid on the floor.

"For you..."

Her face lit up, she felt the hot spread of her cheeks. "Pacey, you're too much. You didn't have to go through all of this to impress me. I'm already impressed."

He leaned over her and kissed her again, "I don't know any other way to show you how much I really like you, Abby, and how great it's been being with you. You came along at a time when I was starting to think that my love life would always suck, that there would never be a woman that I could trust and feel comfortable around. And you proved me wrong."

She held one of the long-stemmed roses up to her nose and breathed in its delicate scent, looking at Pacey. She really didn't know how to react when he said things like this, she was never prepared with a quick retort to the nice things. Her lips were sealed.

She knew that she felt the same, but it was so much harder for her to express herself truthfully without thinking that she was opening herself up for a backfire. Her mother and Jen would have told her to allow herself to say whatever it was that she wanted to, but channeling them in her mind really wasn't working. As it stood, what she really wanted to do was just stare into his eyes and hope that he could read her mind. He'd done a damn good job of that so far.

When he slid in beside her, she nestled up against him and tucked her head into the crook of his neck and rested it there. He started the engine and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her in tighter against him. She felt so safe in his arms.

"Pacey? What is it about us being together makes us both so nervous?"

She was right, both of them felt like they were walking on eggshells, so afraid that they would say or do something and the other would just turn and hightail it out of there all of the time. Pacey didn't know what it was exactly, maybe it was his prior failed relationships, maybe it was that he'd heard his father and brother knock him so many times that he'd started to believe that he was good for nothing. In the back of his mind, he was just really scared to lose the good feeling in his chest that he got when he was around her.

For Abby, it was another story entirely. Her mother and father both loved her very much, but it was that kind of unconditional love, the kind that she didn't really understand and bought into even less. This was different, this was something that she never thought that she would be able to find, let alone like the way it felt. Abby coveted control and when she was with Pacey, she felt like she had none what so ever, and it scared her. It scared her to think that she could ruin it just like she'd ruined everything else. Maybe the differences weren't as big as they might have thought.

"I don't know babe, but maybe it's just part of it all... I've never felt this way before."

"Me neither..." They pulled into the beach parking lot and he cut the engine.

"I thought we'd take a walk on the beach," he said pulling her close. They stared out the windshield at the low-hanging moon.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were a real romantic," she teased, letting herself out of the car and removing her shoes. "It's either that, or you're trying to seduce me. Are you trying to seduce me?"

"Innocent moi? I think not, little girl. You should know me better than that..." He rounded the car and grabbed her from behind tickling under her rib cage. She squirmed to get away.

"You devil, Pacey!" Abby took off through the dunes, towards the edge of the ocean. He chased close behind her, watching her hair bounce in the moonlight. When he caught up to her, he grabbed for her hand and turned her around to him. There was no one on the beach for miles, it seemed. He pulled her against his chest and brought his face down to hers.

He thought to himself that he was completely, ass-backwards falling in love with her. That was what scared him the most.

"Let's go back to my house, Pacey..." She said turning and walking off back towards the car. The air was warm and dry and the moonlight twinkled on the tides, but what she really wanted to do at that moment was be alone with him, completely alone.

* * *

To be continued...

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   [1]: mailto:pilar@chickmail.com
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	8. What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day

_Disclaimer:_It still stands form all of the other parts and whatnot...

_Feedback:_ Please, please, please write me... I hate to beg, but this is what it's come down to. I want your feedback and I want it now! Please drop me a line at[ pilar@chickmail.com][1]. Thanks!

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Part Eight

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The stars filled the night sky above them and the heat of their clutched hands seemed strong enough to heat the entire house; Abby and Pacey lay beside each other on her mother's large bed, their eyes staring out the skylight cut through the roof. Soft music seeped through their pores.

"We do this well, huh?" Pacey turned to her, propping his head up on his hand.

"What?"

"This. Nothing."

How could one boy always manage to say and do the absolute perfect things? Abby leaned towards him and hovered her lips over his, he probably didn't even know what he'd said, really. As his tongue slid into her open mouth, she rolled closer to him, pulling his body tight against hers.

"Mmmmm... " His fingers tangled in her hair and gingerly pulled the pins from it, slowly covering her with kisses as soft tresses fell around her face. "I'm glad that we're finally alone, Abby. We've been waiting too long for this. I could hold you all night."

"So... This has been your plan all night, Witter? Very sneaky." She smiled, raking her fingernails across the back of his neck. "Ply a girl with expensive French wine and seafood, tinge her senses with some salty ocean air, then lure her back to your lair for the grand seduction?"

"Hey, you forgot the roses. And besides, this is your lair..."

"Eh... Same difference." Her teeth shone in the twinkling of the night and soft candlelight, Pacey licked at them until they parted allowing him entrance. It was her turn to let out a soft moan.

The grand seduction wasn't really part of his plan. Pacey had no intention of letting things go too far between them just yet; he only wanted to be with her, to look into her blue-grey eyes and kiss her over and over until they fell asleep in each other's arms. All he did when they were apart was think of her and wish that they were together. She had captured his heart like no one ever had before, like no one ever could.

They didn't matter, the questioning looks and hushed whispers that they got from people who would never understand. That they were an odd couple was obvious, who would have ever thought to put them together -- the loser and the bitch -- but when some things work and move together so seamlessly, who was anyone to question that kind of fate?

Abby's soft hands traced the line of his jawbone to his ears tugging him in for another kiss. She deepened it with infused craving, tasting the backs of his teeth and wrestling against his tongue as it slithered through her mouth. There was a fire beneath her skin, rolling through her veins as his hands roamed over her shoulders and down her back. The soft hiss of her zipper opening behind her as he traced the length of her spine before slipping the straps of her dress over her shoulders.

Everything fell into place when they were alone. Since she'd gotten with Pacey, Abby had lost the embittered attitude that she had carried towards the opposite sex. Their relationship wasn't still wrought with uncertainty and defensiveness, it was encompassed by only one thing, an assuredness that each one of them had found the person that they so belonged to completely. It made them both nervous and scared as well as enthralled.

Pacey brought his lips down to the flesh in the valley between her breasts, nipping at the supple skin there as his hands wandered over her thighs and across her belly, going nowhere else. It would be a torturous night, but Pacey wanted this slowness, wanted her complete trust, this chance to explore each other at their own pace. He could stare at her tiny body breathing in the moonlight forever.

She allowed him to ease her silken dress off her , not uncomfortable to lay beside him in her pale gold bra and matching thong. Her heart raced a mile a minute under his fingertips, he left them there, content to lap at her lips softly and stare into her quietly passionate embrace. Rolling onto her side, she moved closer to him, her hands reaching between them, fingers working at the buttons of his shirt until it fell open and he shrugged it from his broad shoulders. She nibbled at the now bare skin, razing her teeth across his collarbone. He growled huskily into her ear.

"How did you get to be so hot, Abby?"

She blushed from the tips of her immaculately pedicured toes to her scalp, feeling the hot flush spread over her. "Stop doing that! You're going to make me laugh! Besides, it's embarrassing..."

"It's true, and I like to make you laugh." He nuzzled into her, biting at her neck. "It turns me on..."

"Pacey, _everything_ turns you on!" Her soft laughter filled the room.

"No, not everything... just you..." And he enveloped her in an embrace again, crushing her breasts against him and plundering her mouth with his own. She allowed a deep groan to escape her in a heated rush of breath, tantalized to feel him raging beneath his slacks and pressing against her near nakedness.

Hesitating, curious, nervous fingers went instinctively to his belt buckle, eager to cross this sexual threshold and feel his desire in her hands. She already felt it in her heart. He helped her, pulling the trousers over his hips and leaving him clad in cotton boxers that did nothing to hide his rigidity. They only separated for the time that it took to kick his clothes off the bed, enamored bodies reconnecting and hands groping at sensitive bits of bare flesh.

Abby had never gone this far with anyone before; she had always been protective of herself, both her body and her feelings. But with Pacey, everything changed. Her body ached to be near his, he made her feel open and trusting. She had talked a good game, but when it really came down to it, the farthest she had ever gone was the time in seventh grade when she let Rob Halperin put his hand up her shirt in Becky Greenaway's finished basement. He'd told everyone in school the next day, making it all the worse by exaggerating their experience; overnight she'd become the class slut. She only breathed relief when she'd finally moved away and come to Capeside. Well, Rob Halperin and all of those little friends of his could collectively go fuck themselves now. At that point she'd been more than mortified. By the time she'd gotten to Capeside High, the experience had left her cold to any boy who might come near her, a pure disdain for practically everyone on the planet.

Pacey moved closer to her, their bodies glued together and lying on their sides, rocking together in a small spot in the center of the bed. He pushed at her, stroking his length against her as her fingers grazed the small of his back and curved over his hard buttocks. He felt as if he could implode at any minute, his heart a steady pounding that he could feel between his legs.

"Can I take this off you?" His fingers were at the clasp of her brassiere.

Abby's heart pounded nervously, but she pulled back so she could nod wordlessly at him.

"It's okay if you don't want me to."

"No. I want you to. It's just... I'm just a little nervous." She flushed with embarrassment.

"Don't be nervous, babe. You've got nothing to be nervous about... we won't do anything you don't want to do." He stroked the back of her hair and kissed her again, whispering his words into her mouth.

"I know..." She felt his hands on her back again, expert fingers slipping under the back of her bra and going at the clasps. He brought his hands to her shoulders and eased the golden fabric off her body, tossing it aside gently to the mounting pile of their clothes on the floor. His palms covered her, the strength of his fingers bringing her nipples to taut peaks beneath them. She was breathing into him, urging her body against him as he pressed her onto her back and covered her neck with kisses. She watched their star-filled reflection in the glass above them, falling in love.

They didn't speak, they didn't have to. 

His hands smoothed over her body, resting on the swell of her hips as he took her breast into his mouth and she arched towards him, her nipple growing more taut between his teeth. The way that she stared into his eyes and watched his every move, he hoped that she knew how he felt about her. He'd always been so quick to express himself, but right now nothing came to his lips. Maybe that was love? It felt like love.

Curious fingers crossed the elastic waistband of Pacey's boxers, hesitating almost imperceptibly before they held his ass beneath them. She rounded his hips, awkwardly making it between their bodies and barely grazing his cock. It jumped when she touched it and she hesitated again.

_This isn't so damn complicated, just get on with it,_ she thought to herself, wanting to feel him in her hand and bring him the same pleasure she'd been denying herself.

Her fingers wrapped around him and slowly learned the feel of his tight skin; veins bulging beneath, engorged with blood, she closed her eyes and read his cock like Braille. She wanted to bottle this moment and keep it with her forever, the sound of his husky breathing in her ears and her heart beating a mile a minute. When she opened her eyes again, she memorized the look on his face.

Her hands moved carefully, too carefully. Pacey's face contorted and twisted as her nails grazed over his balls and he let out a teeny moan. Their lips connected and he slid his tongue between her parted teeth, pressing his body towards hers. He knew she was scared, could tell from her movements that she was afraid she might break him if she touched him the wrong way or too roughly. With his entire body in ecstasy, he tried to reassure her without words.

"Abby..." He hardly mouthed her name as her tongue traveled around his neck, tasting the skin across his chest, stopping to rake her teeth teasingly over one nipple before moving on. He twisted his fingers in her hair, and she looked up to him with wide, perfect eyes; her mouth open and wet on his stomach. "Abby..."

Her fingers still stroked him, losing the trepidation that they'd had earlier. She felt the satisfaction in his body as he tightened and his breath came in shorter gasps. Hooking her fingers in the waistband of his boxers she eased them slowly over his hips and looking into his half-closed eyes, long lashes fluttering slightly, she took him into her mouth.

Abby's bold lips closed over the head of his cock and she rounded her tongue across it, laving him with her hot saliva, tasting the salt from his skin. His breath quickened in his chest. Her hands remained, moving more quickly on his length, lips and tongue stroking him teasing him to a stiffness he didn't think possible.

"Babe... you... don't... have... to..." His voice was a gruff whisper in dark tones, the air short in his chest. His heart pounding heavy.

She didn't acknowledge his senseless urging or his hand pulling at her arm. She only wanted to show him how she felt about him, how much she trusted him, how much she wanted to experience everything with him. She wanted to experience _everything_ with him.

She sucked harder, swirling her tongue hotly over him and taking him into her mouth as deeply as she could. Her entire body shook imperceptibly, it felt like a raging earthquake inside her flesh. Pacey's hands ran through her hair, rounding her chin and tipping her face slightly to meet his eyes. He took her hand and rested it on his heart.

"Baby..." His heart throbbed in his chest. "I'm gonna..." He couldn't get the words out, as hard as he tried. "Babe... oh, god... Abby..." She didn't let up, instead going at him harder and faster, resisting the threat of her throat gagging on him. Pacey's eyes rolled back and he gripped the sheets with white knuckles, Abby watched in amazement.

It seemed strange to her that she could make him feel this way, so completely out of control, intensely abandoned. His legs stiffened first, then his body shook and a gasping groan escaped from his chest. When he finally exploded into her mouth, she was surprised by the burst, she was surprised by all of it. Surprised how much she enjoyed it herself.

He pulled her up towards him and took her into his arms kissing her deeply, tasting his musk from her lips and sliding his tongue between her parted teeth. Part of him wanted to tell her he loved her the minute that it dawned on him, but he was afraid to. He felt the fear rise in him like the temperature in the room. But when he kissed her, when he brought his arms around her body and held her close, when she looked at him with her tender embracing eyes, there was a fire in his entire body. And that was frightening.

Abby nuzzled herself into the curve of Pacey's neck, a little embarrassed and a little overwhelmed, but mostly horny. Very horny. The quake inside her had turned into a throbbing mass of immediate need. She bit at him urgently, throwing her leg over his and grinding her body against him. She'd never felt this way before.

Neither of them had, that was what made it so good.

The words were on the tip of his tongue; her body hard against him and her lips tracing lazy circles on his throat, he could hear them in his mind, feel them deep in his heart. Pacey turned into her and captured her mouth under his. "I love you...," he whispered.

Abby started, pulling out of his tangled embrace and looking at him, her eyes filled with a million questions, the first of which she blurt out without thinking. "What did you just say?"

He knew she had heard him; she'd heard every word escape his lips, felt his tongue wrap around and form each syllable. The look on her face was worse than he'd expected and he stammered at her. "Nothing... I didn't say anything." He leaned in to kiss her again, to pretend that nothing had been said at all and regain the lost minute between them.

Her voice fell to a whisper. "I heard you. Say it again." The pounding in her chest was louder in her ears than her own voice, it filled the room with a thunder. "Please..."

"I love you," it sounded weaker than the last time, with more of a question marked ending than before. "I mean... well, that's what I said."

"Did you mean it? I mean, really? Because... I--if you don't mean it you can take it back... Because... If you said it just because... I mean, if you said it because I went down on you, then... well..." The tears welled up in her eyes, she didn't know what she wanted to say, she didn't know what she wanted to hear, she just didn't know.

"You don't really believe that, do you?" It was that lack of ego that they both had, the same thing that made each of them seem so plastically confident and outwardly sure. Inside, neither of them felt an eighth of what they gave off.

"I don't know, Pacey. For all I know, you could say that to every girl after she's had your dick in her mouth." She winced as the words flew from her mouth and pulled further away from him, covering her body with a pillow.

"Y'know, fuck you, Abby. I should have kept my stupid mouth shut, I never should have said it in the first place, even if I did mean it. And I _did_ mean it. Only right now, I wish it wasn't true." Pacey turned away from her, he didn't want her to see the hurt in his eyes and know what he felt. He pulled on his boxers and moved to get his pants from the center of the floor, tears threatening to take his eyes.

"Wait... Pacey, please don't go..." She stared at his bare back in pain.

He didn't even take the time to button his shirt before he was taking the stairs two at a time trying to make the door in record speed. Abby went after him, catching him as he hit the door and turning him around to her.

"I love you too..." She reached up to place a hand on his cheek, moist from the tears he feared she'd see. "I do..." On her toes, she laid her lips on top of his and snaked her arms around his waist, lifting herself against him and letting her own tears take her. "I do."

* * *

To be continued...

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